Authorities fail to take action against ad law violators
Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Slimming product advertisements that have been bombarding people, especially women, have turned out to provide misleading information.
Many of these products do not include sufficient information to warn consumers properly of the possible side effects of substances they contain.
The survey by the Indonesian Consumers Empowerment Foundation -- in which respondents included 500 consumers, 20 drug stores and 20 pharmacies -- found 20 products that misled consumers and the foundation also received around 50 complaints related to the products in January alone. No action has yet been taken by the authorities.
The Association of Indonesian Advertising Agencies (PPPI), overseeing some 230 agencies operating in the country, could only point to the weak law enforcement agencies responding to the above issues.
"Frankly speaking, there have been many violations against the code of ethics and professional law in the advertising business. So far, the violators have remained free from either punishment or sanctions," PPPI chairman R.T.S. Masli told The Jakarta Post on Saturday.
"The regulations and code of ethics are clear and sufficient. They are supposed to be able to protect consumers."
Masli said the law enforcers, both the Food and Drug Control Agency (BPOM) and the police, had shown a serious lack of action in upholding the existing law and code of conduct.
Law No. 8/1999 on consumer protection states, in Article 8, paragraph 1.f., that a producer is banned from producing or selling objects or services that are not in accordance with the promise mentioned on the label, information, advertisements or promotions.
Even though there have been fatalities, believed to have occurred after suffering illnesses caused by slimming products, many people have not reported it to the police, even though the law stipulates a maximum punishment of five years imprisonment or compensation payments of up to Rp 2 billion (US$196,080) for the producers.
The self-regulatory system, which leaves monitoring to each ad agency, may not be effective in reducing consumers' psychological attachment to certain products but the media, both electronic and printed, are also responsible for circulating the commercials.
Spokesperson of private TV 7 television channel Uni Zulfiani Lubis admitted it would be difficult to deal with commercials -- which later fell short of the promise in their ads -- if they had passed BPOM's monitoring.
"Should BPOM order us to recall already-aired commercials, we would do it," she said.
Questions remain on how BPOM could issue controversial approvals for products that have provided misleading information to the public. But BPOM head Sampurno could not be reached for comment.
As the arguments for and against slimming products continue, their sales are still going well in markets throughout the city.
Hariadi, a drug store owner at Jatinegara market in East Jakarta, said the slimming products were among the top sellers in his store.
"We sell an average of seven packets of slimming product every day," he said.
So far, none of his customers has complained to him about the side effects of the slimming products he has sold.
Hariadi, himself a consumer of a slimming product, said he had been using the product regularly without any noticeable ailment.
"I assume, with so many consumers, there are bound to be a few complaints."
A vendor of traditional herbal medicines at Pramuka market in Central Jakarta, known as a black market for donated medicines from Japan and the Philippines, revealed he could sell more than 20 dozen slimming herbs every day.
"I no longer have any stocks as they are sold out. Perhaps the new stock will arrive on Monday," the vendor, Riyan, said.