Impact Controls - Tobacco & Health

The road to enactment for the Bill Controlling Impacts from Tobacco Products on Health (bill) has been a long and tortuous one. This journey appears to be one without any apparent end in sight although the Legislation Authority (Badan Legislasi ) of the House of Representatives (DPR) is on the record as saying that although the bill is not on the 2007 National Legislation Program (Prolegnas) they are expecting that by mid-year it should be before the DPR for agreement (for discussion on this see ILB 8/9/2006). The delay apparently stems from the fact that Indonesia has not ratified the related international conventions on tobacco controls.

The most recent draft of this bill contains several changes worth noting.

The definition of public spaces has been amended to stipulate enclosed public spaces. Previously this had been both open and closed public spaces. Although there has been no official reasons given for this amendment it is likely to be the difficulty in enforcing the measure. Enclosed spaces are so much more easily policed than the wide open spaces contemplated previously.

The prohibitions against minors, children under the age of 18, from buying and selling tobacco products has been modified slightly to make it an offence for an adult to order a child or minor to buy and sell tobacco products.

Previously, imported tobacco products could have all relevant and requisite information in a language other than Indonesian. Now, the bill is explicit that all this information must be in Indonesian. This is likely to add significant costs for local importers who will have to affix stickers to supply the requisite information in Indonesian. Interestingly, the bill will require that one of the warnings is that 'smoking causes death' and this is in addition to the already mandated warnings relating to lung cancer, heart attacks, impotence, and pregnancy.

In the new version of the bill there is an absolute prohibition against the sale of tobacco products utilizing vending machine technology. Previously vending machines were permissible in specified or designated areas.

Each packet of cigarettes must contain a minimum of 12 cigarettes and all requisite health and safety warnings.

The minimum amount of excise to be paid on tobacco is 65% of which at least 10% of this is to be directed to community interest programs that are tackling the effects of tobacco on the community. Tobacco products may not be sold in tobacco free areas except from supermarkets which may be located in a tobacco free zone.

The bill now contains a provision which stipulates that the media; this includes print, electronic, and other forms of media, may not show images of individuals smoking. Although not a particularly difficult provision to police it is unclear for news media how this will impact on their ability to cover news as the smoking culture is all-pervasive throughout the Indonesian community. However, for the myriad of Indonesian soap operas and other television fare it will require vigilance in the production process to ensure these scenes are edited out prior to being shown.

Finally, the criminal provisions have been enhanced on conjunction with the new offences under the bill. For example, anyone ordering a minor to buy and sell tobacco products is liable to a period of detention up to 1 year and a fine of up to IDR 50 million. For media companies that flaunt the provisions prohibiting the showing of smoking individuals the penalties include a term of imprisonment up to 3 years and fines of up to IDR 500 million.

As was noted earlier it is unclear when this bill will come before the DPR. The intent is clearly to protect public health however it has the potential to also severely impact on the profitability of tobacco companies.