Tobacco.org

• Indonesia responds on U.S. appeal against WTO clove-flavored cigarette ruling  

The Indonesian government has given an answer to the United States' appeal against a World Trade Organization (WTO) Panel ruling that requires Washington to stop discriminating against "kretek" (clove-flavored) cigarettes from Indonesia, an official was quoted by Antara news wire as saying on Tuesday.

Director General for International Trade Cooperation of Trade Ministry Gusmardi Bustomi said that the ministry sent the rejoinder to the U.S. appeal on Monday.

"In essence, we forwarded our opinion that the Panel's decision favoring Indonesia was already correct," Director General for International Trade Cooperation Gusmardi Bustomi said. The director also said that the Indonesian government had reaffirmed its stance that the U.S. Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act had disadvantaged Indonesia.

The act among other things banned the production and sale of cigarettes containing additive materials such as Indonesia's kretek cigarettes.

The regulation excluded U.S.-made menthol cigarettes and was thus seen discriminating against Indonesia's kretek cigarettes.

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• Judicial Review On Tobacco Law - Indonesia's Nahdlatul Ulama 

Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), the largest Muslim organisation in Indonesia has filed a judicial review in the Constitutional Court of Indonesia, on a piece of legislation which has caused serious concerns for the republic's tobacco farmers.

NU wants the court to review Section 113 of the Health Law which states that tobacco is a commodity which contains an addictive substance.

According to a leader from the organisation, the statement indirectly places tobacco in the same category as ganja.

The law has raised fears among a group of tobacco farmers who are now wary to cultivate the crop as the law clearly bans ganja.

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5 RI crewmen arrested ‘smuggling’ 10 cigarette packs 

The Indonesian Regional Representatives Council (DPD) has urged the government to protect five Indonesian tugboat crewmen arrested by Singaporean customs on Thursday for loading cigarettes above the permitted quota.

The DPD said that it had received reports that the five Indonesian crew aboard the BW Endurance tugboat had been arrested and detained at the Singapore Admiralty’s West Prison for allegedly smuggling cigarettes, after finding the men in possession of 10 packs of cigarettes.

Riau Islands DPD representative Aida Zulaikah Nasution said that the families of the crewmen had reported the incident to the council, complaining that the case had been unfairly handled by the Singaporean authorities.

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Jakarta administrators blowing smoke on cigarette ad ban 

Six months after Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo’s announcement of a push for a smoke-free capital, neither the Jakarta administration nor the City Council appear ready to introduce a bylaw to ban cigarette advertisements in the capital.

Administration secretary Fadjar Panjaitan said recently the city was still in the preliminary stage of drafting of the cigarette ban.

“It is still under discussion. We have not set a deadline for the completion of the draft,” Fadjar told The Jakarta Post in recent interview.

The city secretary said that the administration had formed a special committee to draft the bylaw. The committee is under the supervision of the city’s assistants for development, environmental assistance and public health.

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Fauzi Gets Tough on Smoking in Jakarta Public Buildings 

I completely agree with the absolute lack of law enforcement in this country. That is one issue but another is the complestricter regulations in his fight against smoking in the capital.

In 2010, Fauzi issued a gubernatorial decree that prohibited smoking inside all public buildings. But even though sanctions for smokers could reach Rp 50 million ($5,400) or jail time of six months and business owners could lose their operating permits, enforcement has been virtually nonexistent.

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• Indonesia will not appeal WTO ruling on US tobacco ban  

Indonesia will not lodge an appeal against a WTO ruling on the import ban of flavored tobacco by the US, citing satisfaction despite losing its argument on the efficacy of the ban in reducing the number of young smokers.

Director general for international trade Gusmardi Bustami told reporters on Friday that Indonesia had won the backing of the WTO on its stance regarding the discriminatory nature of the US import ban.

The US Food and Drug Administration banned cigarettes with fruit, confectionery or clove flavors in September 2009, arguing such cigarettes were particularly attractive to children.

The ban affected Indonesia’s clove cigarette industry, as it immediately blocked nearly US$200 million in exports to the US market. The Indonesian government deems the ban discriminatory as the US still allows the sales of menthol flavored cigarettes that are produced widely in the US and smoked by about 19 million Americans. . . .

The WTO’s Dispute Settlement Body issued a ruling on Sept. 2, 2011 that acknowledged Indonesia’s grievances on the discriminatory nature of the import ban, saying that the US violated international trade rules by favoring domestically produced menthol-flavored cigarettes.

The settlement body, however, said the notion that the ban could prevent youths from smoking was relevant and logical.

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Indonesia Seeks Ulema Help to Cut Smoking 

The Indonesian Ministry of Health has approached the country’s largest Muslim organization seeking its help to curb smoking in a new campaign against the deadly habit in the world’s most populous Muslim nation.

“Basically, we explained what this regulation is about, how dangerous tobacco addiction is, and that we need help to successfully implement it because it would be impossible without the help of every stakeholder, including NU,” Tjandra Yoga Aditama, the director general of disease control and environmental health at the Ministry of Health, told the Jakarta Globe on Sunday, January 8.

The initiative was launched last Friday when Aditama, along with Health Minister Endang Rahayu Sedyaningsih, met with Islamic leaders in Nahdlatul Ulama to explain the dangers of smoking.

Seeking their help, the health officials explained how the new suggested regulations, which form a part of the 2009 Health Law, would be implemented. . . .

Approaching the Islamic organization, health officials were concerned that NU’s followers, who are also tobacco farmers, would oppose any regulations that would affect their livelihoods.

“But we have explained again and again that this regulation does not prohibit people from smoking, it is just trying to protect children and pregnant women from the health risk from being exposed to tobacco,” Aditama said.

Moreover, numerous NU clerics were heavy smokers themselves, the organization’s deputy chairman, Slamet Effendy Yusuf, told the Jakarta Globe.

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• US Appeals WTO Ruling On Clove Cigarette Ban ($$) 

The U.S. on Thursday appealed a World Trade Organization decision concluding that the country's ban on clove cigarettes violated some international trade rules by favoring mainly domestically produced menthol-flavored cigarettes over cloves imported largely from Indonesia.

In its appeals brief, the U.S. argued that the panel erred both in concluding that clove and menthol cigarettes were like products and in ruling that U.S. laws treated the imports less favorably than similar cigarettes made domestically.

In particular, the panel improperly concluded that it didn't have to consider the "tastes and habits" of current consumers in weighing whether the two items are "like" products under international trade agreements, the U.S. argued.

While the U.S. applauded the panel's conclusion that the regulation was not unnecessary because it was in the service of the legitimate goal of reducing youth smoking, it argued that the two findings were "difficult to reconcile." The problem, according to the U.S., is that it should be allowed to regulate menthol cigarettes, a product to which millions of adults are addicted, differently than it deals with clove cigarettes, which are "used almost exclusively by novice smokers."

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Jakarta’s poor consider cigarettes basic need 

The poor people of Jakarta spend more money on cigarettes than many of their basic needs, the City Council said.

“More than 30 percent of the spending of poor households in the city is for transportation, clothing and shelter. However, there is another factor that contributes to their spending, which is cigarettes,” Council Speaker Ferrial Sofyan said on Monday, referring to a survey by the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), as quoted by tribunnews.com.

He said that cigarettes had become the second most important item of spending for many poor households.

“People that live in poverty spend their money on cigarettes after rice,” he said.

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• Govt Seeks NU Help on Smoking Rules  

The Ministry of Health wants the support of the country’s largest Muslim organization, Nahdlatul Ulama, in implementing tobacco regulations.

Tjandra Yoga Aditama, the director general of disease control and environmental health at the ministry, said on Friday that he, along with Health Minister Endang Rahayu Sedyaningsih, met with Islamic leaders to explain how the regulations, which form a part of the of the 2009 Health Law, would be implemented.

“Basically, we explained what this regulation is about, how dangerous tobacco addiction is, and that we need help to successfully implement it because it would be impossible without the help of every stakeholder, including NU,” he said.

Tjandra said support from NU was crucial because it has more than 30 million followers. “NU has explained their stance about tobacco and the leaders have promised they will bring this issue to their national meeting, and now we’ll just have to wait for their decision,” he said.

Tjandra said he acknowledged there was some concern from NU’s followers who are also tobacco farmers . . .

“But we have explained again and again that this regulation does not prohibit people from smoking, it is just trying to protect children and pregnant women from the health risk from being exposed to tobacco,”

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Makassar to impose anti-smoking bylaw  

The Makassar administration says it will introduce an anti-smoking bylaw due to a rise in smokers in the South Sulawesi capital.

Makassar Health Agency head Andi Naisyah Azikin said on Thursday that 287,000 out of 1.5 million people in Makassar smoked at least a pack of cigarettes a day. . . .

Makassar’s mayor has also issued a regulation requiring the establishment of non-smoking areas in public areas such as hospitals, schools, sports centers, malls and airports.

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• Lombok’s Tobacco Road Is A Highway to Hell for Some 

Lombok in West Nusa Tenggara is one of Indonesia’s three tobacco belts, the others being East and Central Java. The three provinces contribute 90 percent of total tobacco production in Indonesia or about 150,000 metric tons per year.

According to 2010 Basic Health Research (Riskesdas) data, 34.7 percent of Indonesians smoke, with the highest percentage in the 25-64 year old age group. In 2010, there were about 82 million active smokers in the country and about 220 billion cigarettes were produced, placing it third after China and India.

Despite somewhat stricter law enforcement on smoking in public places and the recent Tobacco Law, the number of smokers is not dropping. Health campaigners say smoking is increasing, especially among women and young people.

Even with tighter regulations, cigarettes remain a good business and the tobacco industry is still among the top advertisers in most Asian countries including Indonesia, where cigarettes seem to be everywhere. Tobacco tycoons are routinely listed as among the wealthiest people in the country and the aroma of kretek cigarettes is a defining feature of Indonesian life. . . .

While high-flying tobacco barons and tireless anti-tobacco campaigners often make news, left out of the spotlight are small-scale tobacco farmers like Fatimah and Papuq.

Munawar, another villager, had a similar story. He was saddled with loans and his tobacco farm earned him nothing. “Every time I see my neighbors bringing home a good harvest, I’m tempted to try because it seems so easy to earn money,” said Munawar, who once fled to Malaysia to escape a Rp 50 million ($5,550) debt. After paying off his loan, he started another failed tobacco farm.

In spite of Lombok’s status as a tobacco haven, many small farmers do not have the infrastructure to benefit from the trade. They lack drying ovens to treat their produce and many of them sell unharvested tobacco to middlemen at a low price. . . .

Amaq is among tens of thousands of farmers who are smitten by the sweet success of Virginia leaf. Some failed and were drowned in debt but others made it, he says.

Amaq has managed his income, invested his money and saved for his children’s education. One of his sons, Subadio, graduated from Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta. He returned home after graduation and chose to become a tobacco farmer himself, following in his father’s footsteps.

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• Former HEW, HHS Secretaries, Surgeons General and CDC Directors Urge Trade Representative to Accept Finding of WTO Panel and Encourage FDA to ban Menthol Flavoring in Cigarettes  

Former Secretaries of the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare and of Health and Human Services, U.S. Surgeons General, and Directors of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, back to the Johnson Administration, known as The Citizens' Commission to Protect the Truth, today urged the United States Trade Representative, Ambassador Ron Kirk, to accept the determination of a World Trade Organization (WTO) panel and ask the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to ban menthol cigarettes in order to bring the United States into compliance with its international treaty obligations.

In a letter, signed by the Citizens' Commission's Chairman, Joseph A. Califano, Jr., U.S. Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare under President Carter who began the nation's first anti-smoking campaign in 1978 and Vice Chairman Louis Sullivan, M.D., president emeritus of the Morehouse School of Medicine and Secretary of Health and Human Services under President George H.W. Bush, the Citizens' Commission cited the WTO panel decision which found that by banning cigarette flavorings except menthol, the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (the Act) discriminates against Indonesian clove cigarettes in violation of the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade. The panel recommended that the WTO Dispute Settlement Body ask the United States to conform the Act with its obligations under the Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Agreement and accord menthol and Indonesian clove cigarettes like treatment in recognition of their being like products.

In concluding that menthol and clove flavored cigarettes are like products, the WTO panel's decision drew heavily on the FDA Tobacco Product Scientific Advisory Committee's March 11, 2011

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• Higher taxes ‘not enough’ to curb smoking habit growth 

The recent increase of tobacco taxes is not enough to solve the country’s pervasive addiction to cigarettes, activists say.

National Commission for Child Protection chairman Arist Merdeka Sirait said that there were no effective ways to curtail consumption of cigarettes besides banning advertisements, which were attracting young people to be “future loyal consumers”.

“Cigarette ads are mostly performed by young actors to reach out to young consumers. You will never see a cigarette ad presented with old and unattractive actresses or actors,” he said, adding that cigarette companies were preparing young people to be addicted customers by introducing smoking to young kids.

To curb consumption and health problems, the government will increase the tobacco excise by 15 percent starting on Jan. 1. . . .

Tulus Abadi, who chairs the Indonesian Consumer Protection Foundation (YLKI), said that Indonesia’s tobacco excise, which amounted to 37 percent of the average price of cigarettes, was much less than the 58 percent rate imposed throughout the rest of the Asia-Pacific region.

“This is why cigarettes are affordable here,” he said.

2007 and 2010 Basic Health Research (Riskesdas) recorded an increase of smoking habits among Indonesian children and teenagers.

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Indonesian Siblings Eat Cigarette Ash, Match Heads and Roof Tiles 

The father of two Indonesian toddlers says he is powerless to stop them from eating their favorite foods — cigarette ash, match heads and pieces of roof tiles.

Asep Saefuloh said on Friday that if he attempted to prevent Gladis Fransisca, 3, and her brother, Faisal Aichal, 4, from eating what they wanted, they would begin crying uncontrollably.

“I don’t know why my children like cigarette ash, roof tiles, matches and even dried paint,” Asep said. “If they are forbidden from doing it, they will cry.”

Asep said that the habit began when they were just one year of age and would put anything in their mouths.

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