New Tobacco Control Regulations for Indonesia Will Drive Down Tobacco Use Rates if Strongly Implemented

Washington, D.C.  –  Indonesian President Joko Widodo has signed important tobacco control regulations mandating much-needed measures to curb tobacco use in a country with some of the highest smoking rates in the world. The regulations follow last year’s omnibus health law and represent a step forward for public health in Indonesia, which has for years been known as Big Tobacco’s playground. 

The regulations mandate restrictions on tobacco and e-cigarette marketing; large, pictorial warning labels on tobacco products; and bans on the sale of tobacco and e-cigarettes near schools and playgrounds. New restrictions on social media sales and advertising and a ban on the sale of single sticks – two tactics aggressively used by tobacco companies to addict youth – are also included in the regulations. 

The new regulations represent an urgently needed step forward for Indonesians and for advocates who have championed them for over a decade. Indonesia is the second largest cigarette market in the world and tobacco companies have fought these regulations every step of the way. Advocates from across Indonesia worked tirelessly to ensure that Big Tobacco companies could not derail these desperately needed public health measures. 

For decades, the world’s largest multinational tobacco companies have abused the lack of strong tobacco control laws in Indonesia – a country where cigarette ads can still be seen on television. Tobacco giants like Philip Morris International and British American Tobacco have targeted youth by surrounding schools and playgrounds with ads for their cigarette brands; using social media to advertise tobacco and nicotine products and sponsoring popular music festivals. The results have been devastating: Nearly two-thirds of Indonesian men and one-third of boys smoke. Nearly half of adults are exposed to secondhand smoke in the workplace. 

Indonesia remains one of the only countries in the world that has not signed the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC), a global public health treaty which obligates signatories to implement measures proven to drive down rates of tobacco use. These measures include smoke-free public places, warning labels on tobacco products, increased tobacco taxes and restrictions on tobacco advertising. 

The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids applauds the Indonesian government and President Widodo for signing these regulations.  We urge the government to act quickly and strongly to implement the regulations in the face of interference from tobacco companies that will surely continue. It is also crucial for the Indonesian government to further protect Indonesians by dramatically raising tobacco prices, simplifying the complicated tobacco tax system and mandating indoor public places be 100 percent smoke-free.