Vapeboss – Through the Coordinating Ministry for Human Development and Culture (Kemenko PMK), the government officially pushed for the implementation of the Revised Government Regulation (RPP) 109 of 2012 concerning the Security of Addictive Substances in the Form of Tobacco Products by launching a policy paper. The vape association considers this RPP to have a deadly impact on the vape industry.

"The tobacco products industry is currently still in the process of economic recovery due to the Covid-19 pandemic," said the Acting Deputy for Trade and Industry Coordination at the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs, Susiwijono Moegiarso.

Susiwijono explained that such restrictions would cause problems in the form of illegal circulation of IHT, kill legal IHT (Tobacco Products Industry), and potentially hinder the growth of domestic industry. In addition, the revision points covering advertising restrictions should be discussed together because they concern the sustainability of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).

The Chairman of the Indonesian Personal Vaporizer Association (APVI), Aryo Andrianto, hopes that the government will create fair regulations to support the e-cigarette industry. He said that these restrictions could kill the viability of the e-cigarette business and potentially eliminate many jobs in marketing.

"That will greatly hinder MSMEs from developing. Social media is an alternative solution for MSMEs to be able to promote with an affordable budget," said Aryo.

According to Aryo, this year the vape industry is growing rapidly, mostly obtained from the number of device and liquid sales. Moreover, Aryo predicts that this year the e-cigarette industry will contribute 1 trillion rupiah in excise duty to the state and will continue to grow and open new job opportunities.

Source: Republika