Worried About Turning Off Tobacco Products Industry, Workers Reject Derivative Rules Of Health Law

JAKARTA - General Chairperson of the PP Federation of Cigarette, Tobacco Workers Unions, Food, Drinks of All Indonesian Workers Unions (FSP RTMM-SPSI), Sudarto AS said that PP 28 of 2024 concerning Implementation Regulations of Law number 17 of 2023 concerning Health and Draft Regulation of the Minister of Health (RPMK) concerning the Security of Tobacco Products and Electronic Cigarettes against the Tobacco Products Industry can actually kill the sustainability of the national Tobacco Products Industry (IHT).

Sudarto said that currently there are 143,000 members of the RTMM-SPSI FSP who depend on the fate of the IHT sector as a factory worker.

"This policy will openly kill the national tobacco products industry. There are approximately 226,000 workers of organizational members from related industries who will be affected by the regulation," he said, in a written statement, quoted Friday, October 18.

He regretted that the Ministry of Health (Kemenkes) had never involved RTMM-SPSI in discussing the RPP Health tobacco article.

"In fact, tobacco products are legal products recognized by the state. And the IHT sector has also become a source of great income for the country and absorbs millions of workers," he said.

Therefore, he asked the Ministry of Health (Kemenkes) to issue a regulation on tobacco products from the RPP Health. According to him, the many prohibitions against tobacco products in the RPP Health are considered to have betrayed the mandate of the Health Law which does not prohibit tobacco products at all.

Sudarto assessed that the current product regulations, namely Government Regulation Number 109 of 2012 (PP 109/2012), were comprehensive in regulating the control of tobacco products.

"This rule should be maintained and strengthened by its implementation, not replaced without a comprehensive evaluation," he said.

The same thing was also expressed by Institute for Development of Economics and Finance (INDEF) researcher Tauhid Ahmad. He considered the policies related to the cigarette industry in connection with the rules listed in PP 28/2024 and RPMK, namely plain, brandless cigarette packaging, ban on selling around educational units and children's playgrounds, and restrictions on outdoor advertising, potentially having a significant economic impact.

According to him, if this rule is implemented, the economic impact that is lost is estimated at IDR 308 trillion or equivalent to 1.5 percent of GDP.

In addition, the impact on tax revenues is estimated at IDR 160.6 trillion, which is equivalent to 7 percent of the total national tax revenue.

"This policy also has the potential to affect around 2.3 million workers in the Tobacco Products Industry (IHT) sector and its derivative products or 1.6 percent of the total working population," he said.

Tauhid explained that the PP 28/2024 and RPMK policies need to involve every stakeholder in the Tobacco Products Industry (IHT) ecosystem, not only business actors, but also ministries and institutions involved.

This is because Indonesia has a complex and different IHT ecosystem from other countries that have ratified the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), where these countries are not tobacco-producing countries or tobacco products and have relatively low contribution from cigarette taxes.

Tauhid revealed that his party (INDEF) gave a recommendation for the government to revise PP 28/2024 and cancel the RPMK, especially in articles that have the potential to have a negative impact on state revenues and economy.

In addition, INDEF also encourages dialogue between Ministries and Institutions (K/L) with interests with IHT, such as the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs, the Ministry of Industry, the Ministry of Trade, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Manpower, the Ministry of Health, and the Ministry of Agriculture.

"If these policies and regulations continue to be implemented, the government is expected to be able to find alternative sources of lost state revenue and prepare new jobs for affected workers," he said.