The Indonesian House of Representatives is drafting a new bill that, if passed, would impose tighter controls on tobacco, including bans on advertising and sponsorship by tobacco companies, according to a report Tuesday.

The bill seeks to, among other things, increase in excise duty to 65 percent and allocation of 10 percent of the resulting revenues for research into tobacco-related diseases.

All forms of tobacco advertising in public places and event- sponsoring by tobacco firms will be banned if the bill is enacted into law, reported The Jakarta Post newspaper.

The bill was reportedly being sponsored by 220 legislators, who believed that such regulation was essential.

"The country is facing another catastrophe, with the number of young smokers increasing exponentially over the years. In the bill, we have set an age limit of 18 as the minimum age for smoking," said House member Hakim Sarimuda Pohan who chairs the committee drafting the bill, which is mostly based on the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.

Comparing Indonesia with neighboring countries, Hakim said that this country imposed the lowest excise duty on tobacco products at only 31.5 percent, whereas Thailand, Malaysia , Singapore and Australia imposed duties ranging between 75 and 85 percent.

But the bill meets strong opposition from the Tobacco Industry Federation (Gappri) as there are still many differences on key issues between the legislators and the tobacco industry.

"Don't forget, the industry employs 5 million workers and another 20 million owe their jobs indirectly to the industry, not to mention the significant contribution made by the industry to the treasury," said Gappri chairman Ismanu Sumiran.

Source: Xinhua