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ndonesia will demand that the United States changes its tobacco control act to comply with the recent ruling of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in a dispute, the trade minister has declared.

The Appellate Body of the WTO last week ruled in favor of Indonesia, saying that the US ban on sales of clove cigarettes was discriminatory, as it still allowed sales of other flavored cigarettes, particularly menthol cigarettes, widely produced in the country.

“Both the US and Indonesia are countries that are bound by the rule of law. There’s no reason for the US not to comply with the WTO’s ruling. As a law-based country, it will respect high international ruling issued by the WTO,” Trade Minister Gita Wirjawan told reporters in Jakarta on Wednesday.

The ruling could serve as a strong precedent to discourage other countries from banning the sale of clove cigarettes and compliance with the decision was necessary to do that, Gita said.

When asked if Indonesia would ask for compensation from the US over the ban, Gita said the government needed to discuss the issue with local cigarette producers.

A tobacco dispute emerged when the US Food and Drug Administration banned sales of cigarettes flavored with fruit, confectionery or clove, through the 2009 US Family Smoking Prevention Tobacco Control Act that aimed to lower the rate of smoking among youths, on the grounds that flavored cigarettes were attractive to children.

During deliberations over the act, Indonesia, the world’s largest clove-cigarettes maker, voiced protests to the US and claimed that the ban was discriminatory because it exempted menthol.

The ban has been a major blow to domestic producers, which had delivered more than 90 percent of clove cigarettes circulating in the US. Annual exports potentially reached up to US$200 million.

Indonesian authorities lodged the complaint to the WTO in April 2010, arguing that in addition to being discriminatory, the ban would not prevent youths from smoking.

Last September, the WTO’s dispute-settlement body sided with Indonesia, saying the regulation was discriminatory and the US breached international trade agreements — particularly the technical barrier to trade (TBT) agreement — by allowing sales of locally-made menthol cigarettes.

However, it acknowledged the significance of the regulation to curb smoking among young people.