HOUSE PREPARES LAW PROPOSAL ON CIGARETTES

The Parliament planned to re-prepare Law proposal on Cigarettes (Cigarette Law) which flopped in the past session. The proposed law emphasized on control over impacts of smoking and prohibition to smoke for children under 18 years of age. Vice Chairman of Commission IX of Parliament, Soemarjati Arjoso convinced the public that the Law Proposal on Smoking would become priority on national legislation program for the period of 2010-2014. The Law Proposal on Cigarettes had entered the Board of Legislation at Parliament.

Admittedly the discussion on Cigarette Law was a trans-commission process and related various Ministries like the Ministry of Trade, Ministry of Industry, Ministry of Health and Ministry of Finance. Moreover many parties would be against legislation of this law because it was regarded as killing the cigarette industry and was a pose of threat to tobacco farmers. And yet cigarette producers were the ones advantaged by cigarette trading, not the tobacco farmers. Most farmers and workers earned below the minimum standard of salary and a good number of farmers were not entitled to the Jamsostek pension plan.

In regard to the fact that the Government’s Regulation Plan (RPP) on tobacco was in the domain of the Ministry of Health, the Parliament was not involved in the process of law making but the House saw that the issue was very similar to the Law Proposal on Cigarettes. The Government Regulation Plan passed as Regulation by October 13, 2010.

Based on the Law of Health No. 36/2009, all of the regulation on law implementation should have been accomplished one year at the latest since legislation. Meanwhile the obligation of Law of Health against RPP of Tobacco, to be precise it was mentioned in Article 116 that the protection against components containing active elements was regulated by Government’s regulation (PP).

Among the draft content regarded as crusial point was that cigarette producers were prohibited to launch any cigarette advertisement in any form, and were forbidden to sponsor any program. Sales of cigarettes were also restricted, such as prohibition to smoke for children under 18, expectant mothers, and prohibition to sell cigarettes on retail basis.