Disbursing The Negative Impact Of The Ministry Of Health's Restrictive Rules, Cengkeh Farmers Crowdedly Reject PP 28/2024 And RPMK Packaging Plains Without Brands

Illustration. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA The farmers jointly rejected Government Regulation (PP) Number 28 of 2024 and its derivative rules, namely the Draft Regulation of the Minister of Health (RPMK), where the two policies contained zoning rules prohibiting the sale and restriction of advertisements for tobacco products to plain cigarette packaging without a brand.

Secretary General of the Indonesian Cengkeh Farmers Association (APPI) I Ketut Budhyman emphasized that these regulations will have an impact on the sustainability of various parties, including farmers, retailers, tobacco workers and consumers themselves.

"The logic is, if cigarette production decreases, this will also have an impact on the upstream sector, including labor and absorption of raw materials. If the absorption of raw materials decreases, especially cloves, it can occur oversupply because the production of cloves is sufficient," he said, in a written statement, Monday, October 14.

He is also worried about the proliferation of the spread of illegal cigarettes if the regulation on the packaging of plain, brandless cigarettes is run by the government. With current conditions, the excise tax is already high, he said, illegal cigarettes have spread widely in the community.

"This could be an opportunity for the circulation of illegal cigarettes. So, basically, anything that causes a decline in production will definitely have an impact on us, especially in the absorption of raw materials. Of course, we do not agree with this rule and reject its implementation," he said.

Budhyman reminded the government that cigarettes are not prohibited or illegal. According to him, until now the cigarette industry has made a big contribution to state revenue.

Therefore, he stressed that the government should be wise in issuing policies that include the lives of many people. He said policies must consider their impact on various parties, not even harming the wider community.

Moreover, the government does not yet have a solution to the impact of the policy on packaging plain, brandless cigarettes in the RPMK or the zoning for the prohibition of the sale and advertisement of tobacco products in PP 28/2024, especially on workers, tobacco farmers and cloves, to state revenues.

"What about workers who will lose their livelihoods? Is there any mitigation? What about state revenues? Is there a solution in the villages? The government is trying to create jobs, but this rule can actually eliminate a lot of work," concluded Budhyman.

The World Population Review report states that Indonesia produces around 109,600 tons of cloves every year, which accounts for 70 percent of the world's total production. Although Indonesia is the ruler in global clove production, several other countries also play an important role in the international clove market, where around 96 percent is used as raw material for kretek cigarettes.

While in second place, there is Madagascar which accounts for about 27 percent of world production. In addition, countries such as Comoro, Malaysia, China, Kenya, Sri Lanka, and Tanzania are also the main players in clove production. Nevertheless, Indonesia remains superior to the tropical climate and the long history of clove cultivation.