RI Warns U.S. of WTO Violation in Cigarette Bill

Source from:  Andi Haswidi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta 08/31/2007

The government has warned the United States Trade Representative against violating a WTO agreement if the U.S. decides to adopt a ban on the sale of clove cigarette. The protest will be conveyed in a letter signed by Trade Minister Mari Elka Pengestu which will be sent Thursday, according to Halida Miljani, an advisor on international cooperation to the Trade Ministry. "The content of the letter is generally the same as our previous complaint on the discrimination of the bill," Halida told The Jakarta Post Wednesday, adding that the first letter was sent to a joint committee on Indonesia-U.S. trade and investment. "Our formal opinion stands clear. We have no issue with other kinds of flavors. However, there is no ground for exempting menthol from the ban. Such discrimination violates the agreement on sanitary and phytosanitary agreements under the WTO." The bill, which is currently undergoing the legislation process in the U.S. Senate, would require the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to restrict tobacco advertising, regulate warning labels and remove hazardous ingredients. It would also adopt a ban on clove-flavored cigarettes and other types of flavor including strawberry, grape, orange, cinnamon, pineapple, vanilla, coconut, licorice, cocoa, chocolate, cherry or coffee, but exempted menthol from the list. The measure banning flavored cigarettes is aimed to discourage children from smoking. Halida said the ministry had registered its protest with the U.S. authorities in May, before the bill reached the legislation process at the federal level. "At that time, the bill was still at the state level, but now it has gone to the federal level. That is why we must act," she said. Critics have also complained the bill does not disallow the presence of hydrogen cyanide, carbon monoxide, N-nitrosodimethylamine, benzene, radioactive polonium 210, or nitrogen dioxide, which are all known to be hazardous. Indonesia cigarette manufacturers have also announced their displeasure over the bill. "I understand that the legislators are concerned about certain kind of flavors that may lure the underage to smoke. But clove is not one of them. Clove has been used for ages as a flavor in cigarettes," Indonesian Clove Cigarette Producers Association chairman Ismanu Soemiran told the Post on Wednesday. According to Ismanu, Indonesia holds around eight percent of the world's total clove cigarette exports. AFP newswire reported that the bill, which was crafted through several years of negotiations involving health groups and tobacco giant Philip Morris, has broad support in the U.S. Senate, where more than 50 senators have signed on as co-sponsors. In Indonesia, after acquiring a majority of stakes in one of Indonesia's cigarette giants, PT HM Sampoerna, in 2005, Phillip Morris recently launched a clove-flavored cigarette product called Marlboro Mix 9. "Foreign players can trade freely here. So we expect the same kind of fairness," Ismanu said. Enditem