Suara.com – The government is currently preparing a draft or Draft Government Regulation derived from Law (UU) No. 17/2023 concerning Health (RPP Health).
The plan is that the RPP will contain a number of controls on the production, sales and sponsorship of tobacco products. Sadly, the RPP will actually threaten the sustainability of the Tobacco Products Industry (IHT).
Chairman of the Joint Association of Indonesian Cigarette Manufacturers (GAPPRI) Henry Najoan said that the implementation of the tobacco articles in the Health RPP would eliminate the livelihoods of more than 6 million people, including workers, tobacco farmers, clove farmers, traders/retailers and creative industry players. .
He also asked the Government to be careful with the draft PP and pay attention to the many sectors involved in it.
“We ask that you not rush to decide on these regulations by considering the social impacts that will arise from these regulations. “If the tobacco articles in the RPP are implemented, the threat to the continuity of IHT is very real and significant,” said Henry, written on Friday (8/12/2023).
GAPPRI, which is the confederation forum for IHT of the typical type of kretek product, which consists of manufacturers from various groups, considers that it would be best if the regulations for tobacco products were removed from the Health RPP and regulated in their own regulations.
For GAPPRI, the current arrangements are felt to be difficult. Apart from the increase in excise rates, the impact is mainly on reducing production in category I, the number of factories closing, from 4,669 business units in 2007 to 1,100 in 2022.
In line with Henry, Deputy Chair of the Indonesian Advertising Council, Janoe Arijanto, explained that the creative and broadcasting industries and their workforce are very threatened if their sustainability is implemented if a total ban on advertising tobacco products is implemented.
The plan to completely ban advertising in tobacco articles in the Health RPP will directly reduce the income of the creative, entertainment and advertising industries.
This will also have an impact on the sustainability of the business and the fate of the workforce who depend on this sector for their work.
“The revenue earned by the creative industry will decrease by 9-10%, which will have a major impact on employment and income for the creative industry,” he said.
Janoe said, according to Nielsen TV Audience Measurement data, advertising for tobacco products is worth more than IDR 9 trillion, while tobacco’s contribution to digital media reaches around 20% of total digital media revenue in Indonesia, which is around hundreds of billions per year.
Moreover, based on data from the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy (Kemenparekraf) in 2021, the creative industry has more than 725 thousand workers and in general, multi-sectors in the creative industry also employ 19.1 million workers.
He emphasized that so far the national creative industry has complied with the established tobacco product advertising regulations. Industry also supports government efforts to reduce the prevalence of child smoking.
So far, explained Janoe, the national creative industry has always complied with applicable regulations and cigarette advertising has been regulated through a number of tobacco product regulations, including PP 109/2012 as well as provisions that have been regulated in detail in the Indonesian Advertising Ethics (EPI).
“In this case, the narrowing of broadcast times for cigarette advertisements on TV in the Health RPP is considered discriminatory for the national creative industry which has complied with all tobacco product advertising regulations,” he said.
Henry also said that many affected parties were not invited to formulate the policy. Even though they will bear the burden of this policy.
Henry also said that his party had sent a letter to the President and asked the government to involve stakeholders. GAPPRI also requests that discussions be carried out in a transparent and accountable manner by taking into account local wisdom, economic size, state revenue, and workforce absorption from the national tobacco industry and other related industries.
This was also expressed by Janoe. He explained that the national creative industry had never been involved in the process of drafting and public participation in the Health RPP. The Advertising Association was never informed and involved in the process of formulating policies that would have an impact on business continuity.
“Apart from that, the ministry that oversees the sheltered association sector was also not invited to participate in consulting on the pros and cons of the plans that will be implemented with the public and related parties,” explained Janoe.
Janoe regrets this, because the creative industry’s understanding is very limited regarding plans to implement these regulations. This policy should be discussed with parties who will be in contact with regulations, considering that the Health RPP covers many business fields and intersects with tobacco products.
According to him, the involvement of industry players from the government in discussing this regulation has never been realized.
His party is open in discussing the policy preparation process so that changes do not harm creative industry players and are right on target in supporting government efforts.
“We also hope to be involved in the process of formulating policies that will have an impact on the creative industry,” concluded Janoe.