in America amounts to discrimination because menthol cigarettes are exempt from the new regulation. Trade Ministry Director General of International Trade Gusmardi Bustami has stated that the Indonesian government has asked the WTO panel to review US violations on trade regulations, including the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) 1994, Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) and Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Agreement. The TBT Agreement is of special importance as it defines clove cigarettes and menthol cigarettes as "like products". Claims of discrimination are enhanced when noting that 99% of kreteks were imported from countries other than the United States (chiefly Indonesia), while menthol cigarettes are produced almost entirely by American tobacco manufacturers. Indonesia's case is further strengthened by comparing the number of young kretek smokers in America with the number of young menthol cigarette smokers. According to US health reports, 43% of young smokers smoke menthol cigarettes, which accounts for nearly 25% of the total cigarette consumption in the United States. Young smokers habituated to kreteks, however, account for less than 1% of cigarette consumption in the US, and <1% of the total cigarettes sold in the US. On April 4, 2012, the WTO ruled in favor of Indonesia's claim, though it is unclear how this will affect U.S. law. International sales Kretek cigarettes are among others sold in Australia, Brazil etc. In Europe only smaller packs and thinner cigarettes were sold to adhere to the EU established maximum amount of nicotine and tar levels. As of 2022, the sale of Kretek cigarettes has been outlawed in the EU, though the sale of Kretek cigarillos does not fall under this ban. In South Africa they are also sold in smaller packs of 10 with between 10–12 mg tar, and 1-1.2 mg nicotine. Indonesia is the world's largest producer of clove cigarettes, and exports up to US$500 million of the product a year. See also Kretek Museum Smoking in Indonesia List of Indonesian inventions and discoveries References Further reading Smoke: a global history of smoking (2004). Edited by Sander L. Gilman and Zhou Xun, Reaktion. . Hanusz, Mark (2000). Kretek: The Culture and Heritage of Indonesia's Clove Cigarettes. Equinox Publishing. . External links Cigarette types Tobacciana Tobacco in Indonesia Indonesian inventions Indonesian culture