Bondowoso Farmer Refuses Standardization of Cigarette Packaging, Worried that Crops Will No Longer Be Absorbed by Industry

ILLUSTRATION/DOK VIA ANTARA

Bondowoso, East Java - Tobacco farmers in Bondowoso, East Java, are starting to worry about the government's plan to implement a policy of standardizing tobacco product packaging through the Draft Regulation of the Minister of Health (RPMK).

They are concerned that the rule will put pressure on the tobacco industry (IHT) and lead to a reduction in the absorption of farmers' harvest.

This concern arises because the sustainability of the tobacco industry is considered to be directly related to the livelihoods of thousands of farmers in Bondowoso. If the industry's room for maneuver is increasingly limited, farmers assess that the impact will be felt even at the production level in the field.

Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Indonesian Tobacco Farmers Association (DPC APTI) Bondowoso M Yasid said that tobacco has always been a flagship commodity and a mainstay of the community's economy in his area. Therefore, he asked the government to consider the impact of policies on farmers.

"The continuation of the livelihood of our farmers is threatened by the policy discourse of packaging diversification through the Draft Minister of Health Regulation (RPMK). Do not let the draft rules that are imposed actually kill the livelihood of farmers slowly and kill the people's tobacco industry. Tobacco is the mainstay of the lives of more than 5,000 farmers in Bondowoso. Please listen to our aspirations," said Yasid, Thursday, July 9.

According to him, what farmers need is not policies that increasingly suppress tobacco commodities, but protection for the sustainability of farmers' businesses and strengthening the capacity of farmers so that the wheels of the community's economy continue to run.

Yasid also emphasized that tobacco farmers in Bondowoso rejected all draft regulations which were considered to have the potential to weaken the sector which has been their source of livelihood.

"The government must listen to the voices of the undercurrents, grassroots people, so that the policy can be evaluated immediately. Tobacco must always be taken care of, this is also to save farmers' fields," he said.

The rejection was conveyed in the midst of the tobacco planting season which had started since the beginning of May. Bondowoso farmers are currently planting local flagship varieties which have been the mainstay of the area for years.

Bondowoso has two main groups of tobacco, namely Maesan I and Maesan II variety tobacco and Kasturi tobacco. The center of production of Maesan tobacco is spread in a number of sub-districts, including Bondowoso, Tenggarang, Tegalampel, Pakem, Curahdami, Maesan, Pujer, Wonosari, Binakal, Taman Krocok, and Wringin.

Farmer data shows that around 5,000 farmers depend on the commodity with a total planting area of 8,424.40 hectares.

"We ask that this uniform packaging rule not be enacted in order to save the lifeblood of the economy in Bondowoso," said Yasid.

Meanwhile, Professor of Intellectual Property Law at Atma Jaya University, Prof. Selvie Sinaga, assessed that the encouragement of packaging standardization also has the potential to create problems in terms of legal protection of brands.

"It must be remembered that the essential function of a brand is a visual differentiator. Therefore, the push for packaging standardization can obscure brand protection," he said in a FGD on Standardization of Packaging Regulation in the Perspective of the Law on Industrial Brands and Design organized by Brawijaya University.

"The standardization of packaging is the same as reducing the differentiating power, which also means eroding the essential function. This is fully regulated in Law Number 20 of 2016 concerning Brands and Geographical Indications," he continued.