Commission VII of Indonesias House of Representatives Establishes a Special Working Committee on Packaged Drinking Water

Commission VII of Indonesia’s House of Representatives (“ DPR ”) is scheduled to soon establish a Special Working Committee (“ Panja ”) to address policies in the Packaged Drinking Water industry (Air Minum Dalam Kemasan- “ AMDK ”). The Chair of Commission VII, Saleh Partaonan Daulay, stated that the formation of the Panja is targeted to be completed during the current legislative session and is expected to resolve issues related to overlapping business licensing in the AMDK sector.

“Now that the legislative session has begun, it can be carried out depending on the agreement of the commission,” Saleh told Hukumonline.

Saleh explained that the discussion to form the Panja is driven by the issue of non-uniform business licensing for the AMDK sector, which is currently dispersed across various Ministries. The Panja is expected to reorganize the entire AMDK business ecosystem, covering regulatory matters, social aspects, and consumer protection. Regarding the social aspect, he emphasized the need for regulations to establish Corporate Social Responsibility (“ CSR ”) standards that actively contribute to the communities surrounding business operations.

In addition, the aspect of state revenue will be one of the policy points to be developed by the Panja. The AMDK business is considered to need to provide a positive contribution to the state, as companies utilize natural resources (Sumber Daya Alam/SDA). To date, contributions paid to Regional Governments (“ Pemda ”) are considered to have had limited impact.

“For example, if the payments are only made to the Pemda, the results are minimal. There is even a risk that payments vary between one company and another,” he emphasized.