Tuesday, September 6, 2011

WTO confrrmed U.S ban on Kretek Cigarettes

Every year, Indonesia exports Kretek/Clove flavored cigarettes to other countries at a value of US$ 500 million, a fifth of which go to the United States

On June 2009, the U.S government issued a Tobacco regulation that ban Indonesian Kretek/Clove flavored cigarettes from entering the U.S market.

This regulation was designed to prevent teenagers in the U.S from starting to smoke cigarettes..

The Indonesian government claimed that this regulation was discriminatory because it only outlawed Kretek/ Clove flavored cigarettes but not Menthol flavored cigarettes. Due to which fact, on April 2010 the Indonesian  government filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Bloomberg reported that on 2 September, WTO has rejected Indonesia's complaint saying that there is extensive scientific evidence supporting that the ban of Kretek/Clove and other flavored cigarettes could reduce youth smoking.

However, WTO said that the ban is inconsistent with the national treatment obligation because it accords Kretek/Clove-flavored-cigarettes less favorable treatment than that accorded to Menthol-flavored cigarettes.

Considering that the Kretek cigarette industry employs around six million labors in Indonesia, I hope that the above WTO's decision would not be followed by other countries. 

27 comments:

sawali tuhusetya said...

wah, terkesan diskrimatif banget, mas harry. sama2 rokoknya, yang kretek dilarang, yang menthol bebas masuk. kok bisa begitu? pdahal harus diakui, ekspor rokok ke amrik termasuk salah satu yang terbesar. bisa berefek ganda bagi kelangsungan produksi rokok kretek nih, mas.

smp 3 lembang said...

kalau terus di larang wah bisa gulung tikar deh para pengusaha rokok kretek indonesia , alamat penggangguran semakin banyak, begitulah WTO juga tidak bisa mengelak dari pengaruh USA

Setyo-Utomo Said said...

We should pay attention on the quality of products !

Nice Veloso said...

Oh! my dear friend! that song speaks of love, equality, freedom. I say no to racism and discrimination of any kind.
Here in Brazil we have the same increasing discussion of the smoke. Especially the flavored cigarettes that attracts young people.
Makes so much profit, they have no interest in resolving the issue soon. A big hug for you!

Iskaruji dot com said...

It's all about 'money' become WTO mainstream. It's become a dilemma when we're thinking about to reduce new consumers of cigarette and how to maintain trading balance in another side..Regulations? It seems like such thing ti deny as usual...

colson said...

On the face of it it's protectionism on the part of the US, whatever the WTO decides.

But once protectionism is allowed in this case, it would have been better to ban all in- and export of cigarettes.

Muhammad-Dadan said...

God will build another industry for the employees. Don't worry.:)

Unknown said...

@Sawali,
Dalam hal ini WTO sepertinya memihak Amerika. Rokok mentol itu juga rokok yang mempunyai rasa.
Ditakutkan akan mempunyai efek pada 6 juta orang bekerja di industri rokok dan tembakau.

@Smp3Lembang,
Demikianlah pengaruh AS sebagai satu satunya negara super.

@Utomo,
This is not about quality, it about unfair treatment.

@Veloso,
WTO has not been fair in this case.
Menthol and clove flavored cigarettes are similar, and WTO acknowledged this. but they refused to ask US cancel the ban.

@Iskaruji,
WTO should act neutrally.

@Colson,
I stopped smoking 15 years ago but in this case I don't agree with the ban on smoking because 5 million work in the industry.

Unknown said...

@Muhammad Dadan,
Let us hope so, insyaallah.

deeahzone said...

Hi Harry! Hope I'm not late to say Minal Aidin Wal Faidin after back from village. So much great articles and news that I missed. Thanks Harry for share

Unknown said...

@Deasy/Deeahzone,
Minal aidin wal faizin, tidak ada kata terlambat untuk saling memaafkan

triesti said...

wait.. philip morris is ok with the ban? they produce those kretek for g_d sake.

Unknown said...

@Triesti,
Yes I remember, Philip Morris bought Sampoerna's (kretek) cigarette manufacturing unit several years ago.

Amin said...

Saya yakin rokok tidak dapat dihilangkan dari dunia akan tetapi asap rokok dapat bebas dari dunia. Salam kenal mas Harry....

boyin said...

America...always use double standard...other industry also got the impact....

Unknown said...

lho kok diskriminatif sih, itu cara tersendiri pemeriontah amrik mengeberi ekonomi. apa bedanya roko menthol dan kretek.. mungkin pasaar rkok disana kalah saing kali

iya kemungkinan sentimen bisnis pengusaha rokok amrik yang harus dicermati.

ioneday said...

apa yang terjadi musti kita cermati bAIK-baik

attayaya said...

seharusnya cerutu juga di-ban aja
itu lebih murni tembakau
pengusaha kretek Deli-Serdang bisa pindah usaha ke Bremen aja ngebuat cerutu
nulis komen ini aja sambil ngisep kretek

apa siih maunya amrik ni??

ASPeMusik said...

smoking is detrimental to health, but discrimination also interfere with mental health

gajah_pesing said...

I don't quite understand about the trade laws. to my knowledge, where there is rising demand there would be a price increase. for me personally, may increase the price it is a personal advantage for entrepreneurs tobacco

Daliana Pacuraru said...

Hello from Romania!
It is interesting to find so many informations here!I think that nothing will be solved in terms of smoking!
Thank you!

Unknown said...

@Amin,
Anda benar.
Terima kasih atas kunjungan dan komentar anda. Senang sekali kenalan dengan anda.

@Boyin,
Yes you are right, US tend to use double standard in the things they do.

@Wisata Murah,
Benar ini sikap diskriminatif AS dan kelemahan WTO bersikap adil.

@Ioneday.
Iya harus dicermati dengan baik.

@Attayaya
Seharusnya rokok mentol dan cerutu juga di larang.

@Aspemusik,
I agree with you.

@Gajah Pesing,
Its trade competition, US cigarette producers felt that people in their country love Kretek.

@Wind,
Yes smoking would not solve anything.

r10 said...

saya malah baru tahu, rokok kretek di ekspor :D

Unknown said...

@R10,
Benar, karena itu kita minta mediasi WTO.

John said...

I don't know the primary reason why they did that. It's probably because more and more people tend to use them. I hope they can settle any issue.

cheap cigarettes

newport cigarettes said...

Indonesia has been the number one importer of cigarettes all over the world. Maybe this is the reason why they are implementing this kind of rule.

Jenny said...

I just got my first e-cigarette, and I'm enjoying it so much more than any other cig I tried. It's sad to think that many might have lost their jobs over this ban, but I'd recommend e-cigs to anyone looking for a smoking alternative.