- Antara/ Arief Priyono
VIVAnews - Players in the Indonesian tobacco industry are these days concerned over pressure caused by the issued national regulations of tobacco mainly Law No.36/2009 on health.
"The regulation will excessively bring down tobacco industry," said Chief of Indonesia Tobacco Employers Association (Gappri), Ismanu Soemiran, said in a statement yesterday, Jan 5.
According to Ismanu, Gappri and PT Djarum, PT Gudang Garam, and PT HM Sampoerna are presented by the government before the judicial review over Article 113 section 2 of Law No.36/2009 on Health at the Constitutional Court.
The draft bill on Tobacco prepared by the government is a bylaw of Law on Health which stipulates cigarette ingredients, graphic images displayed on cigatte packs showing the effects of smoking, and restriction of smokers' spaces.
Ismanu pointed out that a handful of foreign NGOs powered by huge funding are behind the issuance of such regulations.
He went on to say that tobacco industry contributes annual income of up until trillions of rupiah. In 2010, for instance, tobacco tax chipped in Rp 60 trillion to state income excluding cigarette value-added tax, company's income tax and employees' income tax.
"If only state income from tobacco tax were accumulated, the amount would be enough to repay state debts. It's way better compared to the contribution given by a gold mining company operating in Papua by Rp 20 trillion," he said.
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Translated by: Bonardo Maulana W
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