Cigarette makers plan to stage rally
The Indonesian Cigarette Industry Community Forum (Formasi) has pledged to stage a demonstration to protest a government plan to increase excise from cigarette products in 2010, arguing that the move is unjust.
“We plan to propose a judicial review with the Constitutional Court on the planned implementation of the 2009 Finance Ministry regulation on tobacco product excise,” Formasi secretary Johanes Paulus Suhardjo told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.
The plan to take legal action was made after forum members walked out of a meeting with the Customs and Excise Directorate General in Jakarta on Monday, which was intended to familiarize the sector with the new regulation, Paulus said.
The regulation, issued Nov. 16, 2009 also regulates retail prices of cigarettes, a change which the forum says will burden small-scaled cigarette producers.
The forum will also call for a judicial review of the 2008 Finance Ministry regulation on cigarette excise, which was issued in December 2008 and came into effect in February 2009, he said.
