House to define BPOM's authority

JAKARTA: The House of Representatives (DPR) Commission VII for health and social welfare will facilitate efforts to eliminate overlapping duties between the Ministry of Health and the Drugs and Food Control Agency (BPOM).

"Commission VII will be a mediator in assigning who is responsible for what," Ahmad Sanoesi Tambunan said on Thursday in a hearing with the BPOM.

A non-governmental organization alleged on Monday that confusion between the powers of the BPOM and the health ministry had resulted in the unchecked import of narcotics into the country.

The NGO also said that both Law No. 22/1997 on narcotics and Law No. 5/1997 on psychotropics stipulated that the health ministry had the sole authority to sign import documents for narcotics and psychotropic substances.

In practice, however, it is the BPOM that signs the documents.

The confusion between the two institutions started when the BPOM separated from the health ministry during the leadership of former president Abdurrahman Wahid in 2001. --JP