Indonesia
Growing pressure from foreign NGOs demanding Indonesia immediately ratify the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) has been met with strong resistance from East Java Governor Soekarwo. Soekarwo asked foreign NGOs not to intervene in matters related to tobacco farming and product manufacturing in Indonesia, including East Java.
“No, no. It has nothing to do with those NGOs. Tobacco is the livelihood of East Java’s people. Why do they have to dictate how we handle our tobacco affairs? I don’t like it. Mind your own business,” Soekarwo said last week in Surabaya, East Java.
Soekarwo said East Java had a close relationship with Indonesia’s tobacco product manufacturing industry as it employed around 600,000 workers, who would be affected if the government ratified FCTC.
A similar sentiment was conveyed by tobacco manufacturers in Indonesia. They wrote a joint letter expressing their concerns over the sustainability of the tobacco industry in Indonesia to President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo at the end of May. They outlined their concerns that the government would bow to growing pressure from NGOs on immediately ratifying FCTC.
Cigarette manufacturing association Paguyuban Mitra Pelinting Sigaret Indonesia (MPSI) chairman Djoko Wahyudi said one of the requirements stipulated in the FCTC was the prohibition of additional materials, including cloves, in cigarettes, though 95% of cigarettes in Indonesia are kretek (clove cigarettes).
“FCTC will kill kretek, a genuine Indonesian product. We hope and call on the Indonesian government to stay committed to protecting the national tobacco manufacturing industry as a whole, which comprises tobacco farmers, workers and industrial players,” said Djoko.
He said the MPSI employed more than 40,000 workers across Indonesia.
Indonesian Tobacco Growers Association chairman Soeseno said: “If Indonesia ratifies FCTS, we will have to convert our tobacco plantations to other commodities; this will threaten the prosperity of around two million farmers and millions of tobacco workers in Indonesia,” said Soeseno, claiming there was no other commodity that could provide greater profits for farmers.