Indonesian Food Label Particulars and Language

The Indonesian label rules are old, short and still in force, and they contain one provision that decides the sequencing of an entire export programme: the name and address of the party that brings the food into Indonesia has to be printed on it.

Which regulation, and whether it still stands

Peraturan Pemerintah Nomor 69 Tahun 1999 tentang Label dan Iklan Pangan was made under the 1996 Food Act, which was repealed and replaced by Undang-Undang Nomor 18 Tahun 2012 tentang Pangan. It survived that replacement.

Article 152 of the 2012 Act provides that on its entry into force all existing legislation governing food remains in force so long as it has not been replaced and is not inconsistent with the Act, and the State Secretariat's legal database records the 1999 regulation's status as in force.

The five particulars

Article 2(1) puts the obligation on anyone who produces, or brings packaged food into Indonesian territory, for trade: a label on, in or at the food packaging. Article 2(2) adds that it must be applied so that it does not come away from the packaging easily, does not fade or become damaged easily, and sits on a part of the packaging that is easy to see and read.

Article 3(2) sets the minimum content, and it is five items:

the product name; the list of ingredients used; the net weight or net content; the name and address of the party that produces the food or brings it into Indonesian territory; and the expiry date, given as day, month and year.

The fourth of those is the one to plan around. If you are the Canadian producer and somebody else brings the goods in, their identity is printed on your pack. Artwork cannot be finalised before the importer is chosen, and changing importer is a reprint, not a paperwork amendment.

Article 12 then carves out a principal display panel, which must carry at least the product name, the net weight or net content, and the name and address of the party that produces or brings the food into Indonesia.

Article 13 requires that panel to be set out in an orderly way, not crowded together, clear and easy to read, and prohibits any background, picture, colour or decoration that would obscure it. Article 14 requires it to sit where it is most easily seen, observed or read.

Language

Article 15 is one sentence: the information on the label is written or printed using Bahasa Indonesia, Arabic numerals and Latin letters.

Article 16(1) allows a language, numeral or letter other than those three only where there is no equivalent, or no equivalent can be created, or where the food is being traded abroad. That is a narrow exception. It is not a general permission to leave English on the pack alongside the Indonesian, and it is not a basis for a sticker strategy.

What you may not say

Article 5 requires that information and statements about the food on the label be true and not misleading, in text, pictures or any other form, and prohibits any person from giving untrue or misleading label statements about food being traded.

Article 6 allows a statement about the food's health benefits only where it is supported by defensible scientific fact, with the procedure set by the health minister. Article 7 prohibits any statement, in any form, that the food can function as a medicine. Article 8 prohibits printing the name, logo or identity of the institution that analysed the food product.

Article 9 closes it: a person producing or bringing packaged food into Indonesia for trade may not apply a label that fails to meet the regulation.

Halal on the label

Article 10 makes the halal claim self-executing. Anyone who produces or brings packaged food into Indonesia for trade and states that the food is halal for Muslims is responsible for the truth of that statement and must put the halal wording on the label, and that statement is an inseparable part of the label.

There is a second mark to fit alongside it. Where a foreign halal certificate has been registered with BPJPH, Article 152(4) of Peraturan Pemerintah Nomor 42 Tahun 2024 requires the importer that obtained the registration to show the registration number adjacent to the Halal Label on the product packaging, on a particular part of the product, or in a particular place on it.

So the halal element of the artwork depends on a registration number that does not exist until the halal step is finished.

What this page does not cover

The nutrition information panel, claim wording, font sizes and category-specific label requirements are set by BPOM's own Peraturan Badan, not by the 1999 regulation. BPOM's legal documentation site does not answer requests from our network, so we have not read those and have not reproduced them. Ask your importer for the current Peraturan BPOM on processed food labelling by name, and ask which amendments it incorporates.

Why the label comes last

Three separate things have to be known before the artwork is final, and none of them is known at the start. The importer's name and address, because Article 3(2)(d) puts it on the pack. The halal registration number, because Article 152(4) of the 2024 halal regulation puts it next to the halal label. And the product permit reference for your category, which is a question for the registration page rather than this one.

Producers who print early, on the view that a sticker will cover the difference, reprint. Treat the label as an output of the regulatory process, not an input to it, and build the calendar accordingly.