Jakarta – The Food and Drug Monitoring Agency (BPOM) has promised to tighten monitoring of the production and distribution of local skincare products to enforce compliance with existing health and safety standards.

"The BPOM is consistent in enforcing the regulations. So if anyone has information about local sellers or producers violating these regulations, please report it to us. And we will take action," agency head Taruna Ikrar said on Friday in Jakarta, as quoted by Kompas.com.

He added that the agency was planning to collaborate with the trade and industry ministries to crack down on marketing and advertisements that exaggerated or made misleading claims about the benefits a skincare product.

"Overclaiming the benefits of a product is a serious offense. It either fails to meet standards or harms consumers, which makes it a crime," Taruna said.

Last September, the BPOM said it would revoke the permits of skincare products found to be inconsistent between its advertising claims, labels and actual ingredients.

Like many other countries experiencing a surge in both the demand and supply of beauty products over the last decade, Indonesia has been grappling with an increase in the distribution of unregistered cosmetics through various channels and platforms.

Sold at much lower prices, these illegal products are typically advertised as more effective than BPOM-certified products and are widely popular in specific markets, even though they have been frequently found to contain hazardous substances.

Source: https://www.thejakartapost.com/indonesia/2025/01/27/bpom-vows-to-clamp-down-on-skincare-industry.htm