Indonesia is one of the world’s important cigarette markets and major tobacco producers. Because the tobacco industry plays a very important role in Indonesia’s national economy, the country has always been cautious about tobacco control. It is also one of the few countries in the world that has not formally joined the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. At the same time, Indonesia’s supervision of new tobacco products is not yet perfect.

In Indonesia, e-cigarettes are more popular than heated cigarettes. Because e-cigarettes were launched in Indonesia earlier than heated cigarettes, e-cigarettes were launched in Indonesia in 2010, and heated cigarettes were only introduced to the Indonesian market in 2019. According to research by the Indonesian Development Foundation, there are about 2.2 million e-cigarette consumers in the country in 2020.

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The Indonesian government classifies non-cigarette tobacco products as other processed tobacco products. These products include snuff, chewing tobacco, electronic cigarettes and heated cigarettes. All other processed tobacco products are taxed at a rate of 57%.

The Indonesian Development Foundation believes that the Indonesian government’s taxes on new tobacco products should be lower than those on combustible tobacco products, and should improve Indonesian consumers’ purchasing power and convenience for new tobacco products.
In addition to the regulations on import and consumption tax, Indonesia has not yet issued specific and comprehensive regulatory regulations for new tobacco products. Different regulatory agencies have different attitudes towards new tobacco products, and relevant policies have not been fully coordinated. Indonesia’s food and drug regulator wants to ban e-cigarettes, but the Indonesian Ministry of Health wants to regulate e-cigarettes the same way it regulates traditional tobacco products.

In low- and middle-income countries, purchasing power is a challenge for the development of new tobacco products.

Harris Siajian of the Indonesian Development Foundation believes that new tobacco products will be successful in the Indonesian market. He said: “Indonesia has a population of more than 200 million people, of which there are about 52 million educated middle class. In the past 20 years, many poor people have achieved a major transformation and entered the ranks of the educated middle class. This is a new type of middle class. It is a good opportunity for the development of tobacco products. The Indonesian middle class has been an important driver of the country’s economic development, and the consumption level of this group has increased every year since 2002. A suitable brand ambassador, product convenience Sexuality and purchasing power play a very important role in the success of new tobacco product sales.”