Indonesia to get photographic warnings on cigarette packs

PanARMENIAN.Net - Indonesia has issued regulations that will require cigarette packets to bear graphic photographic warnings, a long-delayed measure in a country with one of the highest rates of smoking in the world.

The regulations were watered down following opposition by tobacco farmers and cigarette companies, and fall far short of those in many Western countries and other Asian markets. Billboard and television advertising remains widespread, as is sponsorship of sports and pop music events.

The law regulating tobacco was issued in 2009, but the supporting regulations fleshing it out was not signed by the president until late December. They were posted in full on a government website late Wednesday. Tobacco companies will have 18 months to implement them.

The law bans companies from use terms such as "mild" and "light" in connection with their tobacco products, saying such terms are misleading. But a clause says those brands that are already registered trademarks will be unaffected, meaning that top companies with huge-selling lines will likely be able to keep selling them.

Indonesian men rank as the world's top smokers, with two out of three of them lighting up. About 3 percent of women smoke in the country, Associated Press reported.