Govt Delays Ratification of FCTC

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Trade Minister Muhammad Lutfi said the government would not ratify the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) soon. According to the Trade Ministry and Industry Ministry, Lutfi said, the ratification did not have to take place immediately.

“Mr. Hidayat [Industry Minister] and I thought the time had yet to come for Indonesia to ratify the FCTC,” Lutfi said after inaugurating a new Kawasaki factory in Cikarang on Tuesday, April 8, 2014.

Lutfi said the decision was based on the fact that there were multiple stakeholders involved in the cigarette industry. Tobacco farmers, he added, was actually only a part of the factors both ministries had to take into account before deciding to refuse the ratification of the FCTC.

“We think that the ratification will cause more harm than good,” he said.

Both ministries, however, have failed to detail the potential loss the industry and trade sectors will endure should the FCTC be ratified. “We don’t have the fixed calculation yet. We are still looking into it,” Lutfi said.

Lutfi said he would consult the Health Ministry regarding this decision. “If the president decides we have to ratify the FCTC, that’s his authority. We’ve already provided our opinions.”

Earlier, the Health Ministry had called on the government to immediately ratify the FCTC. The Industry Ministry and Trade Ministry, however, challenged the proposal, claiming it would reduce the nation’s income from cigarette tax and be detrimental to the cigarette industry, which so far has absorbed a great deal of manpower. 

AMIR TEJO