T

he National Commission on Tobacco Control (KNPT) has called on the House of Representatives to draft a bill to protect consumers from the adverse impacts of tobacco.

The commission said that the House should drop its plan to pass a law that would focus on tobacco, which has already been included as one of the 70 bills in the House’s national legislation program for this year.

Speaking during a meeting with the House Legislative Body (Baleg) on Wednesday, KNPT commisioner Hakim Sorimuda Pohan said the country already had a number of regulations on tobacco production and trading, but lacked regulations that could mitigate the impacts of smoking on the more than 60 million smokers in the country.

“We have come here to ask you to prioritize the health of consumers above all other considerations. You must remember that the leaders of ASEAN countries, including Indonesia, have made a commitment to improve the health of their people in the years to come, in addition to protecting trade and labor,” Hakim said on Wednesday.

Baleg has invited the KNPT and other anti-smoking groups to give their opinions to the deliberations of the bill, following criticism that it had arbitrarily included the controversial bill in this year’s national legislative program.

The bill’s inclusion also raised concerns from the NGO, the Indonesian Consumers Foundation (YLKI), which suspected that the bill was given the go-ahead as a result of intense lobbying from the Indonesian Tobacco Society Alliance (AMTI) in an attempt to protect the nation’s tobacco industry.

Also on Wednesday, tobacco farmers staged a protest demanding that the House continue deliberating the bill, arguing that it would protect them from the global anti-smoking campaign. Hakim later said that he had received reports that some farmers had joined the protest after receiving threats.

“Several farmers told me that certain cigarette makers would stop buying tobacco from them if they didn’t support the bill on tobacco,” he said.

The House has previously rejected two bills aimed at tackling the negative impacts of tobacco.

In 2009, House Commission IX overseeing health initiated a similar draft bill but it was rejected by Baleg, which maintained it would deal a blow to tobacco farmers.

Commission IX revised the bill in 2011 and forwarded it to Baleg under a new name. The new draft bill, which was an adaptation of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), was also rejected.

On Wednesday, many members of Baleg ridiculed the KNPT proposal.

Lawmaker Poempida Hidayatullah of the Golkar Party faction spoke disparagingly of the commission for attacking cigarette makers, accusing the KNPT of working in the interests of foreign groups.

“We must be really careful of hidden interests from foreign groups,” he said. Baleg chairman Sunardi Ayub said the KNPT would not have the last word over the tobacco bill.

“It is obvious that the tobacco industry contains a great many interests. Therefore, we will be very careful. Today’s meeting is still an early stage in a long process to draft an effective and balanced bill,” he said.