Antara News·Indonesia·Sunday, September 20, 2026 at 02:49 PM

Indonesia, China set to sign new deal on drug and food safety

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Desca Lidya, Raka Adji

..Indonesia has experts, especially in drug management certification, since BPOM is already a WHO-Listed Authority.

Beijing, China (ANTARA) - Head of the Indonesian Food and Drug Authority (BPOM) Taruna Ikrar said Indonesia will soon reach an agreement with China on matters related to drug and food safety.

"Yesterday's meeting with the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA), China's counterpart to BPOM, went well toward finalizing the memorandum of understanding (MoU) between BPOM and the NMPA. The draft is complete, and we will sign it soon," he told ANTARA in Beijing on Sunday.

The previous MoU between BPOM and the NMPA expired in June 2024. BPOM is currently pushing to renew the agreement with a broader scope covering various regulations on medicines, vaccines, biological products, pharmaceutical ingredients, natural medicines, cosmetics, and digital regulatory technology.

"God willing, we will unveil this during the APEC high-level meeting between President Prabowo and President Xi," Taruna said.

The MoU covers regulatory frameworks, investment, safety, quality, and efficacy, as well as technology transfer.

"Some technologies, particularly vaccine technology, will see investment from China in Indonesia. On the other hand, Indonesia has experts, especially in drug management certification, since BPOM is already a WHO-Listed Authority. This means we have strong manufacturing capabilities," he explained.

BPOM's status as a WHO-Listed Authority (WLA) further strengthens Indonesia's standing in the global regulatory system.

Through a reliance mechanism, BPOM can use assessments conducted by established regulators as a reference while still conducting its own assessments. This mechanism does not constitute automatic recognition.

"Therefore, once implemented, pharmaceutical companies in China are expected to obtain good manufacturing practice certification from Indonesia for drugs or food products, as China has not yet received WHO certification," Taruna said.

In addition to meeting with the NMPA, Taruna also spoke at the International Biomedical Industry Innovation Conference Beijing Forum, hosted by Tsinghua University, where he presented during the "AI + New Medical Technology Conference" session.

"I presented on the application of artificial intelligence in areas related to Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products (ATMPs) and their various derivatives," he added.

ATMPs are medical products containing active substances derived from cells or tissues that are used to treat, prevent, or diagnose diseases.

"Tsinghua University is one of the top universities in the world. I hope we can bring its technological advances to Indonesia, alongside exchanges in human resource development," he said.

During the China visit, Taruna and the BPOM delegation are also scheduled to visit several industrial facilities, including pharmaceutical and food-processing plants.

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