Hans Nicholas Jong, Jakarta – Weak enforcement of tobacco regulations has hampered the country's efforts to prevent children from accessing cigarettes, amid growing concerns that some boys take up the habit as early as 7 years old.
According to the National Commission for Child Protection (Komnas PA), from 2008 to 2012, more than 239,000 children under the age of 10 had started smoking. The average starting age decreases every year, falling from 19 years old a decade ago to just 7 today, according to the commission.
The situation has been exacerbated by weak efforts to enforce a regulation banning vendors from selling cigarettes to children, said Indonesian Consumers Foundation (YLKI) chairman Tulus Abadi.
Since 2012, the government has banned the sale of cigarettes to minors, as stipulated in Government Regulation No. 109/2012. Article 25 of the regulation says it is forbidden to sell tobacco products to anyone below the age of 18 and to pregnant women.
"Our survey shows that 65 percent of cashiers at modern retailers still sell cigarettes to children. So the banning is not effective because there are no sanctions or monitoring," Tulus told The Jakarta Post recently.
It is also easy for children to buy cigarettes at warung (street kiosks), which sell single cigarettes for as little as Rp 2,000 (15 US cents).
"Many parents still ask their children to buy them cigarettes at the warung. They think of cigarettes as a normal thing, just like buying rice. This view has to be changed," Tulus said.
He mentioned a "sin tax", which is an excise tax levied on certain goods deemed harmful to society, such as alcohol and tobacco. "Goods with excise tax shouldn't be allowed to be sold freely," he said.
He also pushed for a total ban on cigarette advertising. "Eighty percent of cigarette ads are placed nearby schools," Tulus said.
The government has started to remove cigarette ads from the streets. But tobacco companies are still allowed to sponsor a multitude of events.
Tobacco giant Hanjaya Mandala Sampoerna, meanwhile, has installed warning signs about the ban on cigarette sales to underage customers in over 30,000 convenience stores nationwide.
Philip Morris-controlled Sampoerna, which holds a 34.5 percent market share of Indonesia's cigarette industry, the largest in the country, said it was seeking to collaborate with more store operators in the future.
The company has also provided education for store owners about the regulation. Sampoerna has restricted access to events it sponsors to people aged 18 and above, said the company's sales director Ivan Cahyadi.
But the Industry Ministry has insisted that education should play a larger role. "It's the role of parents, schools and the Health Ministry to educate. People don't like to be forbidden [from doing something]. So instead of banning, just educate," the ministry's director for the beverage industry, tobacco and refreshment products, Willem Petrus Riwu, told the Post.