Currently Indonesia regulates chemical substances based on their hazards, rather than their risks. The country designates hazardous and toxic substances to be regulated as “B3,” which is an abbreviation in Indonesian. In 2016, Indonesia imported B3 mainly from China, which accounted for over 80%, followed by other Asian countries such as Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, India, and Thailand. Specifically, 267 business entities imported B3 to Indonesia in 2016.

Figure Amount of B3 imported to Indonesia by country (unit: ton)[1]

Let us have a look at chemical management in Indonesia from the perspective of institutional system. First, Indonesia is behind other Asian countries in terms of chemicals control as its control system has yet been fully developed. This is due to the situation in which multiple ministries independently establish their rules on chemicals. This results in the difficulty of comprehensive chemical management in the country. Indonesia employs the so-called the negative list approach for chemicals control. It regulates hazardous chemicals by making lists of designated hazardous and toxic chemicals to be controlled. The country has not, or is not planning to, introduce a risk-based chemical control approach, which regulates chemicals based on assessment results of their hazards and exposure, as is employed in other countries such as Japan or EU (the Japanese Chemical Substances Control Act and the EU REACH Regulation).

However, the Indonesian government is also working to improve the current chemical control method. In 2012, the Chemical Substance Bill, which aimed to regulate the entire life cycle of each chemical substance (from import/export, production, transportation, usage to disposal) was publicized. As of 2018, the Bill has still not been promulgated but still under consideration. It has been incorporated in the state legislation program since 2015 through to 2019.

In Indonesia, chemicals are mainly controlled by the Government Regulation No. 74/2001 on Hazardous and Toxic Substances Management established under the Law No. 32/2009 on Environmental Protection and Management. There are also subordinate ministerial regulations and decrees under the Government Regulation No. 74/2001. As seen in the below chart, chemical control structure in Indonesia is highly complex as several ministries have authority on chemicals control (the Ministries of Environment, Industry, and Trade) and other ministries also have set chemicals-related regulations (the Ministries of Health, Manpower, and Transportation).

  • Law No. 32/2009 on Environmental Protection and Management
    A fundamental environment law, which regulates the environmental management in Indonesia generally.
    It also stipulates specific penalties.

    • Government Regulation No. 74/2001 on Hazardous and Toxic Substances Management
      A central regulation for chemicals control.
      It regulates the entire life cycle of B3 wastes, including import, production, transportation, distribution, storage, use, and processing.

      • Ministry of Environment
        – Regulation of the Minister of Environment No. 3/2008 on Procedures for Issuing Symbols and Labels for Hazardous and Toxic Substances
        – Regulation of the Minister of Environment and Forestry No. 36/2017 on Procedure about Registration and Notification of Hazardous and Toxic Substances
      • Ministry of Industry
        – Regulation of the Minister of Industry No. 24/2006 on Supervision over Production and Utilization of Dangerous Substances for Industries
        – Regulation of the Minister of Industry No. 87/2009 on the Global Harmonization System on Classification and Labelling of Chemical Substances
        – Regulation of the Minister of Industry No. 43/2013 on Amendments to the Regulation of the Ministry of Industry No. 87/2009
        – Regulation of the Minister of Industry No. 41/2014 on Prohibition of Using Hydrochlorofluorocarbon (HCFC) in the Industrial Sector
        – Regulation of the Minister of Industry No. 13 of 2021 on the Recommendation of the Importation of Hazardous substances
      • Ministry of Trade
        – Regulation of the Minister of Trade No. 44/2009 on Procurement, Distribution, and Supervision of Hazardous Substances  (invalid by Regulation of the Minister of Trade No. 7 of 2022)
        – Regulation of the Minister of Trade No. 23/2011 on the Amendments to the Regulation of the Ministry of Trade No. 44/2009 (invalid by Regulation of the Minister of Trade No. 7 of 2022)
        – Regulation of the Minister of Trade No. 83/2015 on Import Provisions of Ozone Depletion Materials (invalid by Regulation of the Minister of Trade No. 7 of 2022)
        – Regulation of the Minister of Trade No. 7 of 2022 Concerning Distribution and Control of Hazardous Substances

[1] The Ministry of Environment and Forestry of Indonesia