Indonesia raises smoking age, will curb cigarette advertising

JAKARTA - Indonesia raised the minimum legal age for purchasing cigarettes to 21 from 18, as part of a series of changes to health regulations intended to curb the deadly habit in a country with one of the world’s highest smoking rates.

Indonesia, a country of 270 million people, is one of the world’s top producers of tobacco and there are about 70 million adult smokers there, the World Health Organisation said in a 2021 survey.

In a government regulation signed by President Joko Widodo last week, Indonesia raised the minimum age for people to legally buy cigarettes to 21 and banned the sale of single cigarettes, a cheap alternative common in local street stores.

The regulation is intended to “lower prevalence of smokers and prevent early-age smokers”.

Among the provisions is banning the sale of cigarettes within 200m from schools and playgrounds.

The regulation took effect immediately.

Indonesia’s Health Ministry said in a 2023 survey that 7.4 per cent of smokers out of 70 million smokers in the country are between the ages of 10 and 18, with 15 to 19 being the age group with the most smokers.

The new regulation also bans conventional and electronic cigarette sales on “commercial electronic applications” and social media sites, unless there is age verification.

Advertising cigarettes on social media is also banned.

Penalties for violations range from a written reprimand to a temporary ban on advertising cigarettes.

The new provisions on advertising will come into force in two years.

Mr Yasrip, a street store seller in Jakarta, said the rules don’t really bother him as he sells things other than cigarettes, adding the government should be stricter in enforcing its rules.

Anti-smoking advocates say some of the new regulations are not enough to curb smoking.

Mr Tubagus Haryo Karbyanto, a tobacco control advocate, said some provisions are good, such as those that regulate electronic cigarettes, but the government must issue a technical implementation regulation to ensure monitoring and enforcement.

Mr Manik Marganamahendra, a youth tobacco control advocate, also said enforcing the minimum age limit has to be more stringent, with ID verification, for instance.

Henry Najoan of the cigarette factory association was quoted by news website Kumparan as saying that the rules would destroy the tobacco industry.

Cheap and widespread, Indonesia has also tried to curb smoking by raising excise rates on tobacco products almost every year in the past few years, including by 10 per cent in 2024.

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