The food and beverages industry has been growing in recent years. The rising personal income, as well as increase in spending on food and drink of the growing middle class, has been the main contributor to its development. Along with a very positive prognosis of future growth (doubled middle class till 2020), Indonesia expects more companies will enter the food and beverage market in Indonesia. This, however, might be a tricky game. Why? Because you need to know about BPOM Indonesia food registration before you can distribute your products.
What food products must be registered in Indonesia?
The National Agency for Food and Drug Control (FDA) or Badan Pengawas Obat dan Makanan (BPOM) is the one who regulates the food products in Indonesia
Indonesian laws understand the term “food” as anything that comes from biological sources of agricultural products, plantations, forestry, fisheries, farms, or marine or water environments, whether it is processed or unprocessed, that is used as food or drink for human consumption. Even though BPOM supervises medicines & therapeutic goods and food products, both have different regulations.
In addition, BPOM has defined the company doesn’t need to register food products in conditions as follows:
- Imported for research, test, and/or own consumption purpose
- Used as ingredients for end products
- Not sold to end customers
- With a life cycle of fewer than 7 days
Coming back to the question from the headline – you need to register your food products unless it is used as an ingredient in an end product.
However, be aware. Being a country with a vast Muslim majority, alcoholic beverages are controlled and subject to high rates of excise as well as strict requirements for obtaining approval for their importing.
Related article: Food and Beverage Registration in Indonesia
Who can register food products?
A local company, a local agent, or a distributor are the ones that can register food products. In case you do not have your own company or you have not selected any importer yet, you should consider the following options.
Foreign-owned Company
A foreign-owned company, also known as PT PMA, allows foreign ownership up to 100%. However, the percentage changes depending on individual conditions, e.g. sector in which a company is running its business.
Foreigners can fully own PT PMA for importing and exporting goods. However, a company still cannot distribute its products, which means, your company would need to assign its distributor.
The foreign ownership reduces to 67% of your business plan covers the distribution of food products. Therefore, you must have a local partner.
Whether searching local partner or a distributor, Cekindo is here to help you. Thanks to our vast network of contacts in many sectors, our services can help you to start your business smoothly and efficiently.
What documents do you need for BPOM Indonesia Food Registration?
As in every case, individual conditions to the registration of a food or beverage product apply. Generally, a company needs to submit eight documents for registration by BPOM.
- Certificate of free sales in the country of origin
- Ingredients of finished products and their raw materials (includes expired info)
- HACCP validation
- Certificate of analysis of finished products
- Certificate of analysis of raw materials and their ingredients
- Packaging information
- Product code explanation
- Authorization letter
More information about food registration in Indonesia.
However, do not hesitate to consult your individual case with our professionals at Cekindo.
