ZRPO aims to improve enterprises' compliance in fulfilling regulations on promoting traditional medicines and health supplements, BPOM head Penny K. Lukito said after the zone’s launch at Shangri-La Hotel, here, on Friday.
In addition, ZRPO seeks to protect the public from misleading promotions of traditional medicines and health supplements, she added.
The program is being conducted in collaboration with eight online marketplaces and is supported by the Ministry of Communication and Informatics as well as the Indonesian e-Commerce Association (IdEA).
The challenges of technological development and progress have continued to develop alongside the rising trend of products being distributed online.
"BPOM has a mission to protect people from drug and food risk, including traditional medicine and health supplement products that do not adhere to the requirements and (are promoted through) misleading information," Lukito said.
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In 2021, the BPOM, along with related parties, took down several misleading promotion links for products. At least 126,331 such links were taken down in the period from January to April 2022.
Such violations are mostly occurring because entrepreneurs still do not understand regulations related to the distribution and promotion of traditional medicines and health supplements.
Meanwhile, BPOM also has a mission to support MSE competitiveness. The ZRPO program is expected to accommodate both missions.
The program also supports the government's target, as mandated by President Joko Widodo, to connect at least 20 million micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to the digital ecosystem.
Under the program, MSE resellers who distribute and promote products on the marketplace platforms will be educated so that they understand traditional medicine and health supplement regulations well.
The educational content that will be provided through this program will be presented in an interesting format and uploaded to each marketplace in the form of talk shows, videos, articles, infographics, and question-answer sets.
"This program will also facilitate MSEs because it would allow them to avoid potential legal troubles and expand the opportunity for them to develop and be competitive," Lukito explained.
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Translator: Andi Firdaus, Fadhli Ruhman
Editor: Suharto
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