Indonesia and China to finalize expanded drug and food safety pact

Indonesia's Food and Drug Authority chief Taruna Ikrar confirmed that a fresh memorandum of understanding with China's National Medical Products Administration is ready for signing, likely during the APEC high-level meeting between Presidents Prabowo and Xi. The previous pact expired in June 2024, and the new version expands coverage to medicines, vaccines, biological products, pharmaceutical ingredients, natural medicines, cosmetics and digital regulatory technology.

It includes provisions for joint investment, technology transfer and regulatory cooperation, with China expected to fund vaccine-related projects in Indonesia while Indonesian firms provide good manufacturing practice certification for Chinese products, leveraging BPOM's WHO-Listed Authority status. Ikrar also highlighted Indonesia's reliance mechanism, allowing reference to assessments by established regulators. During his Beijing visit, he spoke at a Tsinghua University forum on AI applications in advanced therapy medicinal products and toured several pharmaceutical and food-processing facilities.