inp.polri.go.id - Jakarta. The Food and Drug Monitoring Agency (BPOM) will strengthen its oversight strategy for cigarette products, particularly vapes, by strengthening standardization, limiting nicotine-tar levels, and collaborating across sectors to protect the younger generation from the threat of addictive substances.
BPOM Head Taruna Ikrar observes that Indonesia is in a "newbie smoker emergency" because the prevalence of children and adolescents aged 10-18 who actively smoke has reached 7.4 percent, equivalent to more than 5 million children in Indonesia.
"The use of e-cigarettes has also surged due to the harm reduction narrative promoted by the industry. Yet there is no conclusive evidence that e-cigarettes are safer than conventional cigarettes," said Taruna on Friday (5/22/2026).
He emphasized that public safety and health are the highest priorities and cannot be compromised.
Taruna explained that e-cigarettes still contain addictive substances such as nicotine, toxic substances, and even carcinogenic substances that can trigger dependence and have negative health impacts.
In fact, in a number of cases, vaping devices have been misused as a medium for the use of new psychoactive substances (NPS) and other dangerous substances.
"To strengthen the oversight system, BPOM has issued BPOM Regulation Number 18 concerning Supervision of Tobacco Products and E-Cigarettes and BPOM Regulation Number 19 of 2025 concerning Guidelines for Follow-up on the Results of Supervision of Drugs and Addictive Substances," explained Taruna.
In addition to regulations, BPOM has also implemented pilot projects for the supervision of tobacco and e-cigarette products in various regions of Indonesia throughout 2025. The results indicate that compliance with the latest regulations still needs to be improved, particularly regarding the protection of children and adolescents.
"To support more modern and integrated supervision, the BPOM has developed BPOM-WATCH (Web-based Application for Tobacco Control Hub) as a digital reporting system to strengthen and more accountably monitor business compliance," he explained.
Taruna believes that supervision of e-cigarette products cannot be carried out in isolation but must be comprehensive and integrated across sectors.
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