'I didn't know about a ban on supplements'

'I didn't know about a ban on supplements'

Australia banned around 100 food supplements manufactured by Pan
Pharmaceuticals Ltd. earlier this year. Following the ban, the
Indonesian Food and Drug Monitoring Agency called for pharmacies
to remove the drugs from the market. However, some drugstore
owners in the city remained in the dark about the withdrawal
order, as they told The Jakarta Post.

Liana, 60, is the owner of a drugstore on Jl. Matraman Raya,
Central Jakarta. She lives nearby with her husband and two
children:

I didn't know that the government withdrew the Australian
supplements. I'll have my merchandise checked out soon.

Fortunately, I don't sell many food supplements manufactured
by Australian companies. But if there are any, I would comply
with the ban. It's my risk.

Besides, I think only a few of my customers need such
supplements, especially the imported ones.

If it's true that the drugs have been withdrawn, I'm afraid I
will suffer financial loses. I've already had several experiences
of authorities confiscating drugs thought to be hazardous to the
public, and they didn't compensate for the losses.

I wonder whether the withdrawal is just a trick among
competitors in the pharmaceutical business.

I also wonder why so many people, including healthy people,
are fond of taking food supplements. I'm sure that not all
customers know about the real benefits of food supplements.

Wiwie, 39, owns a drugstore on Jl. Grompol, East Jakarta, and
lives nearby with her husband and daughter:

I have just found out that the government has banned food
supplements manufactured by an Australian company.

Luckily, I rarely sell food supplements here, let alone the
imported ones. I don't want to sell imported supplements, as many
of them are illegal. Everyone in the business should have known
that.

So, I wonder how so many kinds of food supplements from
Australia or other countries could enter the local market? I'm
asking who is actually behind the free market of imported drugs
here?

In all practicality, I don't want to deal with the complicated
legal bureaucracy and face the risks if they confiscate the goods
without compensation.

Besides, only a few customers buy food supplements around
here. You can see that almost all of my customers are of the low-
income bracket, who usually don't take supplements.

Eti, 21, is a shop attendant at a drugstore on Jl. Pramuka,
East Jakarta. She lives in Bintara, Bekasi, with her family:

Honestly, I didn't know that local authorities had placed a
ban on Australian food supplements.

In any case, we don't sell imported drugs or supplements here.

As far as I know, many imported food supplements are illegal.
But if there are pharmacies or drug stores selling such goods,
perhaps they are smart enough to disguise the goods.

It's better for us to sell the local ones, even though there
are only a few customers who buy them.

-- Leo Wahyudi S.