Govt will set up new health body

Govt will set up new health body

JAKARTA (JP): The government plans to establish a new agency
to deal with increasing public complaints concerning drug and
food qualities, a senior official of the Ministry of Health
announced yesterday.

The new agency is designed chiefly to protect consumers,
Director General for Food and Drug Supervision Wisnu Katim said,
adding that the agency will be willing to work together with
consumer agencies.

The agency, which is being considered in the fiscal 1995/96,
will have a representative office in each of the 27 provinces.

Besides dealing with complaints, the agency will also act as
an information center on drugs and food products, Wisnu told a
hearing with the House of Representatives' Commission VIII.

The directorate general supervises the quality, manufacturing
and distribution of all drugs and food and beverages in the
country.

The office has come under criticism in the past for its lax
control. Consumer agencies repeatedly found and reported products
on supermarket shelves that were past the expiry date and food
containing harmful substances.

Wisnu said that besides conducting laboratory tests, his
office also makes on the spot inspections on the quality of food
and drugs sold to the public.

Last year, the directorate general found no less than 90,000
cans of food and beverages in supermarkets and with distributors
in Jakarta that were deemed hazardous to consumers' health.

The manufacturers and distributors have been reprimanded and
some were prosecuted, he said.

Asked about the position of the directorate general in the
current controversy over the plan to control the sales of
alcoholic drinks, Wisnu said his office is not involved in the
proposed scheme.

A private company, PT Arbamass, was recently licensed by the
Ministry of Home Affairs to control the sales of alcoholic
beverages. Under the plan, all such drinks must carry stickers
issued by the company before being sold to the public.

The country's beer manufacturers are objecting to the hefty
fee they have to pay for the stickers and have threatened to
relocate their plants outside Indonesia if the plan is enforced.
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