On 26 July 2024, the Government of Indonesia issued Government Regulation No. 28 of 2024 (hereinafter, GR No. 28/2024), which implements Indonesia’s Law No. 17 of 2023 on Health. With the ultimate objective of reducing and managing certain non-communicable diseases, GR No. 28/2024 requires the Government to adopt measures aimed at reducing the intake of sugar, salt, and saturated fat in processed foods, including a front-of-pack labelling scheme for processed foods and beverages. On 9 September 2024, Indonesia’s National Agency of Drug and Food Control (Badan Pengawas Obat dan Makanan, hereinafter, BPOM) published a Draft Regulation on Nutritional Information on Processed Food Labels (hereinafter, Draft Regulation), detailing the future requirements for the front-of-pack labelling scheme, notably the “Nutri-Level” label. This article provides an overview of the labelling requirements and the “Nutri-Level” label, with a discussion of the relevant international standards, as well as the implications for food businesses.
The rationale for front-of-pack nutrition labelling
Excessive sugar, salt, and saturated fat intake is linked to higher risks of non-communicable diseases, including diabetes. According to the International Diabetes Federation, Indonesia ranked fifth globally in diabetes prevalence, with 19.5 million cases in 2021. This number is projected to increase to 28.6 million by 2045. Indonesia’s Ministry of Health notes that “stroke, heart disease, and diabetes are the top three causes of death in Indonesia”. In this context, the proposed mandatory front-of-pack labelling scheme aims at guiding consumers towards healthier food choices, encouraging a preference for processed products with lower contents of sugar, salt, and saturated fat. Indonesia is following in the footsteps of several ASEAN Member States, taking measures to pursue a healthier diet. Most notably, in 2021, Singapore introduced its “Nutri-Grade” scheme for processed foods and freshly prepared beverages, which grades the relevant food products from “A” to “D”, indicating the lowest to the highest content of sugar and saturated fat (see Trade Perspectives, Issue No. 8 of 24 April 2023).
Indonesia’s mandatory “Nutri-Level” front-of-pack nutrition labelling scheme
Article 2 of the Draft Regulation would require businesses that produce and/or distribute processed foods to display nutritional information on the packaging, consisting of a nutrition information panel, as well as a front-of-pack “Nutri-level” label and, where applicable, a “Healthier Choice” logo. The related requirements would be implemented gradually for micro and small enterprises and would exclude certain products, such as instant coffee, powdered/instant tea, herbs, and mineral water.
According to Article 5 of the Draft Regulation, the nutrition information panel must include, inter alia, information on the serving size, the types of nutrients and non-nutrient substances, as well as the percentage of recommended daily intake. A mandatory template for the information panel is provided in Annex I to the Draft Regulation, with different formats based on the categories of processed foods. The “Nutri-Level” label would grade processed foods on a scale from “A” to “D,” indicating a combined score with respect to the nutrients sugar, salt, and saturated fat. The Draft Regulation provides the details of the “Nutri-Level” grading scheme for each level, as follows:
According to Article 25 of the Draft Regulation, products graded “A” must not contain sweetening food additives, while those rated “B” may only use natural sweeteners, such as sorbitol syrup or isomalt. Products including sweetening food additives would be rated “C” or “D”. The “Nutri-Level” label would be implemented gradually, initially applying only to processed beverages graded “C” and “D”, and to ready-to-drink beverages, including liquid concentrates. The specific requirements regarding the “Nutri-Level” label are provided in Annex IV to the Draft Regulation.
Article 28 of the Draft Regulation states that processed food meeting the relevant nutritional profile criteria based on the content of sugar, salt, and total fat may bear a “Healthier Choice” logo. The requirements for the “Healthier Choice” logo and the nutritional profile criteria are provided in Annex V to the Draft Regulation.
Conformity with international standards and similar labelling schemes
Nutrition labelling schemes like “Nutri-Level” have been implemented in other jurisdictions and the “Nutri-Score” scheme, developed by France, and adopted by several EU Member States (see Trade Perspectives, Issue No. 17 of 19 September 2022) appears to have served as a blueprint for the “Nutri-Grade” and “Nutri-Level” schemes in Singapore and Indonesia, respectively. Setting out mandatory product characteristics, these schemes appear to be technical regulations in the context of the World Trade Organization’s (hereinafter, WTO) Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (hereinafter, TBT Agreement). According to Article 2.2 of the TBT Agreement, WTO Members must ensure that such technical regulations are not prepared, adopted, or applied with a view to or with the effect of “creating unnecessary obstacles to international trade”.
Article 2.4 of the TBT Agreement further specifies that technical regulations should be based on relevant international standards, such as the Codex Guidelines on Nutrition Labelling. These Codex Guidelines state that nutrient declarations should inform consumers about nutrient quantities without suggesting exact dietary requirements and recommend that supplementary nutritional information be optional and used in conjunction with (not as a replacement for) nutrient declarations. The Guidelines also suggest alternative methods, such as voluntary claims, to help consumers make informed dietary choices. Given the potential trade impact, Indonesia must ensure compliance with the relevant WTO obligations and it appears that the measures’ objectives could indeed be achieved by less trade-restrictive policies, such as public campaigns encouraging to eat healthily and promoting physical activity.
Implications for businesses
Indonesia’s forthcoming mandatory “Nutri-level” label is an initial step towards promoting healthier diets and preventing certain non-communicable diseases. While BPOM is finalising the Draft Regulation and has yet to announce a definitive implementation timeline, processed food producers should proactively prepare and assess the classification of their products in order to anticipate the future requirements. The new rules may pose challenges, particularly for micro, small, and medium enterprises, which often lack the necessary resources to make relevant adjustments
