Revision of Regulation of the Ministry of Trade on Alcoholic Beverages Begins to be Discussed

The government is reportedly planning to revise regulations on the distribution and sale of alcoholic beverages on e-commerce platforms. If true, Ipung Nimpuno, Secretary-General of the Association of Importers and Distributors of Beverages (Apidmi), hopes that the regulations will only strengthen the supervision of alcoholic beverage products (“alcoholic bevs”) rather than ban their sale on e-commerce platforms.

“This discussion has been ongoing for some time because there are no regulations governing the sale of alcoholic bevs on e-commerce platforms. However, in our opinion, it should not be banned. Instead, it should be more strictly monitored, for example through verification and age restrictions for buyers/consumers,” Ipung told Hukumonline.

Under Regulation of the Minister of Trade (“Regulation”) No. 20/M-DAG/PER/4/2014 of 2014 on the Control and Oversight of the Procurement, Distribution and Sale of Alcoholic, as amended several times, most recently by Regulation No. 20 of 2021 on Import Policy and Provisions (collectively referred to as “Regulation 20/2014”), there are no specific provisions on the prohibition of online sales of alcoholic beverages.

However, discussions on this policy are currently being held by the Directorate-General of Consumer Protection and Trade Compliance (“Director-General”) of the Ministry of Trade (“Ministry”) after taking down 2,663 electronic advertisements for alcoholic beverages during the period of 2024 - May 2025.