BPOM monitors 263,000 links for illegal cosmetics sales

The Food and Drug Monitoring Agency (BPOM) of the Republic of Indonesia, alongside related agencies, is monitoring 263,000 digital links suspected of engaging in the sale of illegal cosmetic products. “To give an example, there are already 263,000 links promoting illegal cosmetics; we are keeping an eye on all of them,” said BPOM Head Taruna Ikrar in Tangerang on Friday. He stated that the monitoring of links operating through electronic system providers and promoting cosmetic products is being conducted by BPOM in cooperation with the Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs and the Indonesian E-Commerce Association. “We have already reported them to the e-commerce platforms, because the takedown authority lies with the Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs. We have reported them, we then informed the e-commerce platforms, and they have now been taken down,” he said. According to him, cases of illegal cosmetics distribution in Indonesia have been successfully identified through their systems and operational modes, including free online trade causing unsafe foreign cosmetic products to easily enter the country without permission for sale. Furthermore, another triggering factor is the general public’s lack of awareness regarding the use of cosmetics that have official marketing authorisation from the government. “We estimate that discoveries are mostly found online, with online now being the majority at over 70 percent. There are approximately 20 to 30 percent found offline,” he stated. He also revealed that aside from monitoring sales links, BPOM has now detected more than 2,000 cosmetic brand items and placed them on a blacklist in the hazardous goods category. “We have blacklisted these. There are more than 900 items recently blacklisted. But previously, we had blacklisted approximately 2,000 cosmetic product items,” he said. He noted that the majority of cosmetic products subjected to blacklisting enforcement originated from China with illegal import status. “The majority are from China. There also appear to be products from other countries. But almost 90 percent are from China,” he stated. These revelations began with public information received in late May 2026. Subsequently, the intelligence and Cyber Directorate team of the POM Agency conducted deeper investigation and inquiry, which identified 890 items of cosmetics without distribution permits, totalling 1,818,245 pieces. “The estimated economic value of the risk of public loss in material form is Rp22.1 billion,” he said. Taruna stated that based on these initial findings, the BPOM team further expanded the investigation and identified two individuals acting as importers and resellers. “They obtained and stored the products in a warehouse located in Bojong Nangka Village, Kelapa Dua District, Tangerang Regency, Banten,” he said. At that location, he confirmed that the team found 956 product items, all without marketing authorisation, bringing the total number of products discovered to 2,082 pieces. “So, it is an unofficial, illegal channel, meaning they do not pay taxes or other fees. The economic value of the state’s risk of loss is Rp5.5 billion,” he added. He disclosed that the examination results of the person acting as the importer showed that the products were imported into Indonesian territory via a general freight forwarder suspected of engaging in practices not in accordance with regulations. In addition, they marketed and distributed the illegal products widely through electronic trading platforms or e-commerce. “These imported cosmetics enter Indonesia without a marketing notification certificate (TIE) and without fulfilling the requirements, so their safety and quality cannot be guaranteed in circulation,” he concluded.