Jakarta (ANTARA) - The increasingly stringent regulations on the beverage industry was one of the reasons PepsiCo left Indonesia, according to the Indonesian Food and Beverage Producers Association (GAPMMI).

Member of Board of Trustees of GAPMMI, Thomas Darmawan, explained that there are at least four regulations that are likely to ensure the carbonated soft drink manufacturer no longer extends cooperation to Indonesia's company, PT Anugerah Indofood Barokah Makmur (AIBM), as of October 10, 2019.

"There are four regulations that - in my opinion - are now being considered by the beverage industry, namely the law on water resources, the required label from the Indonesia Food and Drug Monitoring Agency (BPOM), the halal certification, and the prohibition of plastic packaging for drinks," he said here on Thursday.

Darmawan, who is also the Chairperson of the Standing Committee for Food and Protein Processing Industry, further explained that one of regulations that is currently hampering the development of the beverage industry is the BPOM Regulation No.22 of 2019 concerning information about the nutritional value on labels of processed food.

The regulation requires producers to include information about salt, sugar, and fat intake on food and beverage labels.

In addition, the food and beverage industry is also required to have a halal certification from the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) starting from October 17, 2019.

Moreover, a discourse regarding the imposition of excise tax rates on carbonated drinks has also deterred PepsiCo to supply its products to the Indonesian market.

"Another reason is the tax. The Minister of Finance and the House of Representatives have discussed imposing excise tax on carbonated drink products as applied on cigarettes," he pointed.

As reported earlier, PepsiCo - a carbonated soft drink manufacturer headquartered in the United States - has officially stated that it no longer sells its products in Indonesia.

Such a measure was taken after PepsiCo decided to end its cooperation with Indonesia's company, PT Anugerah Indofood Barokah Makmur (AIBM), which will be effective from October 10, 2019.

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Translator: Mentari Dwi Gayati, Yuni Arisa
Editor: Sri Haryati
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