Yes, this was a real billboard ad that was once used in Jakarta.
Everybody knows Indonesia has a serious tobacco problem, with surveys showing that over 34% of the population smokes cigarettes regularly. Most people would say the lack of smoking regulations in Indonesia is because of big tobacco’s huge influence over the government, but politicians often justify it by arguing that such regulations would severely hurt the Indonesian tobacco industry and farmers, killing thousands of jobs and damaging a pillar of the economy.
A new report from the Center for Economic and Health Policy Studies at the University of Indonesia argues that justification is not only wrong, it’s backwards – a lack of cigarette regulations and increasing rates of smoking are actually hurting Indonesian tobacco workers.
The main reason for that is because the amount of tobacco Indonesia is importing is steadily rising every year as demand far outpaces local supplies. In 2000, only 16.6% of tobacco in Indonesia was imported, but that number had increased to 72.5% in 2011 (the report’s data is based on 2013 statistics from the Ministry of Trade).
Hasbullah Thabrani, the chairman for the Center for Economic and Health Policy Studies, said this situation was very good for foreign farmers but was causing Indonesian farmers to lose money.
In addition, the report says that the proportion of tobacco farmers to the total workforce in Indonesia fell from 0.8% in 1990 to 0.5% in 2010. That change happened after Indonesia became one of the few countries to sign the international Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.
“The portion of workers in the tobacco industry to workers in all industries fell from 3.5% in 1998 to 1% in 2012. The data was taken from 2012 employment statistics. Tobacco industry workers only make up 0.4% of the total workforce,” he said as quoted by Republika.
The report also shows that, from 2000 to 2013, the income of workers in the tobacco industry have fallen relative to workers in all other industries.
Hasbullah argues that these statistics debunk the myth that cigarette regulations would destroy the local tobacco industry and farmers.
“In fact that has never happened anywhere. The decline in trading volume happens gradually,” he said.
Hasbullah said that is because increased smoking regulations and prices do not cause smokers quit instantly. “Addicted smokers will continue to smoke, even if the price of cigarettes rises three to fourfold. By controlling the consumption of cigarettes, Indonesia will increase its revenues because of increased cigarette taxes.”
