JAKARTA. An expert has said that ratifying the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC), which contains rules on tobacco-related business covering production, sales, advertising, taxation, etc., will not affect tobacco farmers and the industry in Indonesia.

WHO Indonesia officer for the Tobacco Free initiative, Dina Kania, said that instead of harming the country’s economy, the FCTC had a number of provisions that offered assistance to tobacco farmers and cigarette manufacturing workers.

“The FCTC would not shut tobacco factories or kick tobacco farmers out of their jobs. The FCTC is the rules of the game needed to regulate the cigarette industry. It is also needed to protect the country’s citizens from the negative effects of tobacco consumption,” she said in a discussion in Jakarta on Monday.

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Dina said cigarette production in countries with the highest production of tobacco leaves, such as Brazil, China and India, had not fallen after they ratified the FCTC.

Indonesia is the only country in Asia yet to sign and ratify the FCTC. The treaty has been ratified by 180 countries, now protecting 90 percent of the world’s population with Zimbabwe being the latest country to adopt the FCTC.

The FCTC contains several provisions regarding smoke-free areas, packaging and labelling, pricing and taxing and prohibition of advertising and promotions, including through sponsorship. It also has provisions regarding illegal cigarettes and assistance for tobacco farmers and cigarette workers.

Dina explained that one crucial provision in the FCTC was on the prohibition of cigarette companies’ involvement in state policy making.

“Cigarette companies cannot be stakeholders in the country because their interests will not be in line with the public’s health interests,” she said.

The expert further said that the absence of FCTC provisions had led to weak tobacco control in Indonesia. The country, according to her, has not paid close attention to reducing tobacco consumption.

“Only 40 percent of cigarette products carry pictorial health warnings. Meanwhile, in other countries such as Nepal, the figure stands at around 80 percent,” said Dina.

The maximum cigarette excise, of 57 percent, also cannot decrease consumption of cigarettes in Indonesia, she continued.

Dina said cigarettes were no longer just related to health problems but could also lead to social and economic problems.

“If tobacco consumption is not controlled, between now and 2030, it will kill 175 million people worldwide. It is estimated that more than 80 percent of those deaths will occur in developing countries,” Dina said, adding that the prevalence of smoking in Indonesia would likely increase unless it applied the FCTC.

Widyastuti Soerojo of the Tobacco Control Resource Center (IAKMI) said on Monday that industrial interests had hampered Indonesia’s ratification of the FCTC.

She said the Indonesian government was known to have close-knit relationships with cigarette companies, and to be in various forms of cooperation, including through sponsorship and donations.

Widyastuti explained that in 2014, Industry Ministry officials carried out work visits to local cigarette factories when arranging the Roadmap of Tobacco and Tobacco Products Industrial (IHT) Sector 2015-2019.

“It shows that cigarette companies have been equal partners with the government,” said Widyastuti. (Callistasia Anggun Wijaya)