Richel Dursin, Jakarta – Campaigners against smoking are pressuring the Indonesian government to embrace an international anti-tobacco treaty and warn that if it fails to do so the country could fast become the "ashtray of Asia".
"It is a matter of urgency for the Indonesian government to accede to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control [FCTC]," said Mary Assunta, chairperson of the Framework Convention Alliance – an umbrella group of more than 200 anti-smoking organizations from across the world.
Indonesia, the world's fifth-largest consumer of tobacco after China, the United States, Japan and Russia, is the only country in Asia that failed to sign the World Health Organization-sponsored treaty that became a binding law on February 27.
Signed by 168 countries and ratified by 61 nations, the FCTC is the first legal initiative that attempts to control the use of tobacco on a global scale.
The treaty requires participating states to outlaw tobacco advertising and sponsorship, demand that tobacco companies cover at least 30% of every cigarette pack with health warnings, ban the use of euphemistic adjectives like "light" or "mild" to describe cigarettes, and increase tobacco taxes to an optimum level, making the retail price of tobacco high and not affordable.
The FCTC also stipulates that participating states ban smoking in all public places. In Indonesia, only the Jakarta administration has enacted a city ordinance banning smoking in public areas, though the ordinance will not come into force until early 2006. In other parts of the country, smoking is a norm.
"If Indonesia does not accede to the FCTC, we will take legal action against the government," warned Tulus Abadi, coordinator of the Indonesian Consumers Organization. "Indonesia's failure to adopt the FCTC is a violation of human rights and the country's constitution," Abadi said in an interview.
The Indonesian Consumers Organization has given the government until May 4 to meet its demand to accede to the international treaty.
Anti-smoking campaigners argue that the Indonesian government will be "left out" and will not be able to participate in the meeting of parties in Geneva next February if it refuses to comply with the FCTC. "The Indonesian government will not be able to tap into a global fund from the FCTC" to combat smoking, said Abadi.
Last year, former health minister Achmad Sujudi was about to sign the treaty but was prevented from doing so by high-ranking authorities. "Obviously, the government gave in to the pressure from tobacco companies, which argued that it is not necessary to sign and ratify the FCTC," Abadi revealed.
But Herman Soetardja, head of the drug abuse prevention division of the Office of the Vice President, said Indonesia did not sign the FCTC because of the country's political situation.
"At that time, we were busy with the legislative and presidential elections," he said.
To date, five ministries – manpower and transmigration, agriculture, trade, industry and finance – continue to oppose the adoption of the FCTC, as they claim the treaty would harm the country's tobacco industry, which is a major employer.
Tobacco excise charges contribute greatly to the state's coffers. Last year alone about Rp30 trillion (US$3.3 billion) was raked in by the government.
"The government only thinks of money it can get from tobacco companies. It does not think of the health of its people," Indah Suksmaningsih, chairperson of the Indonesian Consumers Organization told Inter Press Service. "The government should consider that its citizens have the right to clean air."
As part of their efforts to convince the Indonesian government to agree to the FCTC, anti-smoking campaigners have sought the help of political figures and religious leaders. One of the messages being conveyed to politicians is that supporting the FCTC will "increase their popularity".
The recent acquisition of a 40% stake in Indonesia's second-largest cigarette producer, PT Hanjaya Mandala Sampoerna by US-based tobacco giant PT Philip Morris for $2 billion, has given anti-smoking lobbyists all the more reason to increase their pressure on the government to adopt the FCTC
According to these activists, the weak enforcement of laws in Indonesia is the major reason Philip Morris chose to invest in Indonesia. "Philip Morris was not stupid when it decided to invest in Indonesia because here it can do what it cannot do in other parts of the world," said Suksmaningsih. "Using the Sampoerna name, Philip Morris can operate and market its products virtually without restrictions on advertisements, nicotine and tar content."
But Soetardja of the Office of the Vice President pointed out that Indonesia is "happy" and at the same time "worried" over Philip Morris' decision to invest in Indonesia. "There is a clear indication that transnational companies will go to a country where the enforcement of [smoking] laws is practically nil," Soetardja said.
As it appears now, Indonesia is moving backward while its neighbors, particularly Thailand and Singapore, are moving forward in the implementation of tough anti-smoking provisions.
"Smoking makes the poor people in Indonesia poorer," said Anhari Achadi, adviser to the minister of health on health services for vulnerable communities. "The country's poor people waste their money on cigarettes instead of buying food.".
Results of a study conducted by the National Institute of Health Research and Development showed that in 2001 the amount spent each month by individual smokers in Indonesia amounted to Rp166,500 ($18) – an equivalent to wages for 25 days of work based on the regional minimum wage in Jakarta.
Last year, about 215 billion cigarettes worth a total of $8.5 billion were sold in Indonesia, which claims to have about 141 million smokers, with analysts predicting that that number is likely to increase by at least 5% this year.
"To reduce the severe health and economic impact of tobacco use, the government should implement the cost-effective policies on national tobacco control as suggested by the FCTC," said Achadi. (Inter Press Service)