TV ads for local goods must utilize RI resources
Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The government and House of Representatives (DPR) agreed unanimously on Thursday that commercials for domestic products must use domestic resources, including the artists involved and shooting locations.
Details of the ruling will still be spelled out in government regulations. Both Minister of Communications and Information Syamsul Mu'arif and members of the House special committee deliberating the broadcasting bill agreed on Thursday that the move would help boost the domestic industry.
The absence of such a ruling has allowed foreigners to promote domestic products in locally produced commercials. This has drawn protests from local production houses and Indonesian artists who are often sidelined in favor of foreigners.
However, the agreement, reached in a working meeting between Minister Syamsul and the House commission deliberating the broadcasting bill, does not necessarily mean a restriction to commercials of foreign products featuring foreigners taken overseas.
According to Effendy Choirie of the National Awakening Party (PKB), the stipulation would be applicable to domestic products only.
Effendy said regulations on foreign products would be issued by the government and Indonesian Supervisory Commission or KPI, a broadcasting supervisory body to be set up later.
The working meeting also agreed that all films and commercials must be censored before being aired on television and radio stations.
Earlier, a number of legislators rejected a proposal requiring local television and radio stations to screen commercials or films before they are aired.
They argued that censorship by television and radio stations overlapped with the task of the Film Censorship Agency (BSF).
Effendy and Djoko Susilo of the National Mandate Party (PAN), and fellow legislator Asnawi Latif of the Daulatul Ummah Faction (FPDU) asserted on Thursday that for many Indonesians the word of censorship was frightening.
They suggested that the clause be dropped because all films distributed officially in Indonesia had already been screened by BSF.
But legislator Hardisusilo of Golkar faction defended the clause obliging television and radio stations to carry out censorship on films and commercials.
He was backed by Minister Syamsul who said that censorship by BSF was not sufficient.
"We have to improve censorship for films aired on television," Syamsul said without explaining why censorship by BSF was not sufficient.
Syamsul added that the mechanism for censorship of films and advertisements would be discussed later.
The prolonged debate on the censorship issue prompted committee chairman Paulus Widiyanto of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) to adjourn the meeting.
Paulus reminded the lawmakers of an earlier agreement that the old practice -- censoring by BSF of films and commercials broadcast by television and radio stations -- would continue should they fail to reach an agreement on the issue.