Cigarette makers ignore Indonesia health warning label deadline
Tobacco-related illnesses kill at least 200,000 each year in country with world's highest rate of smoking among men aged over 15
Tobacco companies have largely ignored an Indonesian deadline to put graphic health warnings on all cigarette packs being sold, another setback for anti-smoking efforts in a country that’s home to the world’s highest rate of male smokers and a wild, wild west of advertising.
Despite having a year and a half to prepare warning photos that are to cover 40 per cent of cigarette packs, most tobacco companies failed to meet Tuesday’s deadline, according to the National Commission for Child Protection. It found little sign of change in brands being sold in Jakarta and 11 other cities across the archipelago.
“This clearly indicates that the cigarette industry has defied Indonesian law,” said commission chair Arist Merdeka Sirait. “The government has been defeated by the cigarette industry.”
Only 409 of the more than 3,300 brands owned by 672 companies nationwide had registered the photos they plan to use on their products as of Monday, according to the Food and Drug Monitoring Agency. They were given a choice of five images last June.
Health Minister Nafsiah Mboi said companies that missed the deadline will be issued warnings, and those that fail to comply could eventually be fined up to US$42,000 and face five years in prison.
Indonesia’s biggest cigarette producer, Philip Morris-owned Sampoerna, said it began distributing products with the new warnings on Monday, but needed more time to clear out existing stock. But the labels must be displayed on shelves by Tuesday, Mboi said.