Indonesian Customs Indicated That Indonesia Will Still Adjust the Tax Policy of E-Cigarettes

On October 20th, the IECIE Vape Show was held at Jakarta International Expo. This exhibition covers an area of more than 12,000 square meters, with 100+ enterprises participating and an expected 10,000+ visitors. As the global cooperative media of IECIE and the strategic cooperative media of the Electronic Cigarette Professional Committee of China Electronic Chamber of Commerce (ECCC), 2FIRSTS set up a press room at the exhibition site to provide full coverage of the event.

At the exhibition, 2FIRSTS had an exclusive interview with Mr. Nirwala, director of the Communication and Stakeholder Compliance Department of the General Administration of Indonesia Customs in the press room. 

When the front-line staff of 2FIRSTS asked Mr. Nirwala about Indonesia's import and export data and the scale of Indonesia's e-cigarette industry, he said that Indonesia's e-cigarette industry has maintained a rapid rise from 2018 to 2021, with tax revenue increasing by 530%. Mr. Nirwala emphasized that the Indonesian government's goal in collecting taxes is to safeguard citizens from excessive e-cigarette usage, which is also conducive to advancing the country's economic growth.

Speaking specifically about the tax policy, Mr. Nirwala said, “Before 2022, the policy for ordinary cigarettes and e-cigarettes was the same, but we will separate the two policies from this year. A brand-new policy for e-cigarettes will be implemented, which is relatively friendly to distributors and brands. We are open to the suggestions of the industry to ensure everyone's interests.”

According to Mr. Nirwala, the government of Indonesia would progressively modify its e-cigarette policy and will base its decisions on the following aspects:

 ·  "Public health"-the government will take the impact of e-cigarettes on public health as the first element to measure the tax policy;
 ·  "Industry development"-the government will specifically take employee quality, factory environment, industrial scale, and other factors into account;
 ·  "Tax price". Mr. Nirwala said, "If it is too low, it will lead to excessive e-cigarette usage by more people; However if the tax is too high, everyone will flow to the black market and reduce the purchase of e-cigarettes in formal channels, which is not conducive to the development of e-cigarette enterprises. " As a result, the Indonesian government is still measuring the amount of tax revenue.

Mr. Nirwala expressed great interest and wished to have more interactions after listening to front-line staff members' presentations of 2FIRSTS on the regulation of e-cigarettes in China and the situation in Britain, the European Union, and other nations. These contents will also be shown to Indonesian health departments and trade departments.

At the end of the interview, Mr. Nirwala expressed his warm welcome to investment and factory construction from China e-cigarette enterprises. To balance the interests of the government, users, and e-cigarette makers, Indonesia will make policy adjustments to the e-cigarette industry.

For more information about IECIE Vape Show, please visit the special site.