FCTC threatens more harm than good

Indonesian Trade Minister Muhammad Lutfi has said his government will not ratify the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) soon, according to a Tempo story.

According to the views of the trade ministry and of the industry ministry, Lutfi said, the ratification did not have to take place immediately.

“Mr. Hidayat [the industry minister] and I thought the time had yet to come for Indonesia to ratify the FCTC,” Lutfi said after inaugurating a new Kawasaki factory in Cikarang.

Lutfi said the ministries’ position was based on the needs of the various stakeholders involved in the cigarette industry.

Tobacco farmers, he added, comprised only one of a number of factors both ministries had to take into account before deciding to “refuse the ratification of the FCTC.”

“We think that the ratification will cause more harm than good,” he said.