JABAR EKSPRES – Chairman of the Indonesian Personal Vaporizer Association (APVI), Aryo Andrianto, said that e-cigarettes have the potential to become a new leading industry in Indonesia.
“The e-cigarette industry has existed for 10 years in Indonesia and only received attention in 2017, was subject to excise tax in 2018 and finally until now it continues to grow,” said Aryo in a democratic dialectic discussion entitled Examining more addictive substances in the Health Bill, at the Parliament Complex, Senayan, Jakarta, Thursday (5/25).
According to him, currently there are no countries in the world that prohibit the use of e-cigarettes. In fact, a number of countries that previously imposed strict restrictions are now opening up and updating regulations.
Currently, he said, the Omnibus Law Health Bill continues to be a public discourse, one of the points that reaps the pros and cons is tobacco products, which are categorized as addictive substances along with narcotics, psychotropic substances and alcoholic beverages.
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Aryo said that e-cigarettes refer to research from a number of countries such as the UK to New Zealand. To date, there are six million e-cigarette users in Indonesia and have opened 200,000 new jobs.
“The industry is growing, and it also coexists with tobacco farmers,” he said.
He emphasized that his party is now continuing to develop research on local tobacco products for e-cigarette ingredients.
E-cigarettes (vape), he said, are more than 50 percent from local tobacco. Currently, his party continues to explore how to make it 100 percent from local tobacco.
“We hope that the government and legislature can support and jointly build this industry,” he said.
Aryo said that with the support of policymakers, e-cigarettes could become a new leading industry.
Meanwhile, a member of the Legislative Body of the House of Representatives, Firman Soebagyo, emphasized that the House of Representatives has never been in contact with the tobacco commodity, and the House is only interested in better health services.
