Government May Curb Cigarette Production

Source from:  tobaccojournal.com 20 Jun 2007 06/25/2007

The Indonesian government has announced plans, which - if put into action - would start limiting cigarette production by 2010. In a move to curb smoking in the world's fifth-largest tobacco market, the director of beverages and tobacco at the industry ministry, Imam Haryono, said there were plans to cap production at 240 billion cigarettes in 2010. "In 2010, we will impose a maximum production of 240 billion sticks and in 2015 the limit will be 260 billion and remain at that until 2020," Haryono said. Due to the relatively low price of cigarettes in Indonesia (a pack of cigarettes costs US$ 1), experts say more than a third of Indonesia's population smokes today compared with a little over 25 percent about a decade ago. Indonesia's US$ 8-billion tobacco industry provides jobs for 7 million people and contributes about 10 percent to the government's coffers. The industry expects to pay 42 trillion rupiah (US$ 4.76 billion) cigarette excise this year, up from 11 trillion in 2001. Enditem