Indonesian Farmers Reject Tobacco Control Convention

Pamekasan, E Java (Antara) -- Tobacco farmers throughout Indonesia filed a petition rejecting the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) and other guidelines that they believe pose a threat to their livelihood. The petition rejecting the FCTC was submitted by tobacco farmers at the event commemorating the World Tobacco Farmers Day on Wednesday (October 29) in Pamekasan, East Java, wherein the Indonesian Tobacco Farmers Association (APTI) was celebrated. "We rejected the framework of the accession treaty for tobacco control, or the FCTC, because it ignores the economic rights of tobacco farmers," Vice Chairman of the National Executive Council (NEC) of the APTI, Suryana, said. Suryana also urged that the occasion be used to highlight the positive aspects of tobacco. The NEC vice chairman added that tobacco was, in fact, a national heritage and that the public should be educated about issues that affect the livelihood of farmers. The APTI also highlighted the conditions of tobacco farmers in the signatory countries of the FCTC, which is currently being formulated and is expected to threaten the existence of tobacco farmers in the future. "The FCTC guidelines being opposed the most are the ban on the use of additional ingredients like cloves and the application of tobacco plain packaging," the Secretary General of the NEC of the APTI, Budidono, said. (*) Reported by Abd Aziz