Need for Biotechnology Regulation in Indonesia

Biotechnology adoption in Indonesia has been a slow process because of poor government support. This was aired by Dr. Bambang Purwantara, director of  the Indonesia Biotechnology Information Center  (IndoBIC) in Bogor, during the recently concluded Hearing Discussion between the Indonesian Society for Agricultural Biotechnology and Commission IV of the People’s Representative Council. "This lost time mean lost opportunities for Indonesia to benefit from the technology," explained Purwantara. The Council manages the agriculture, plantation, forestry, fishery, marine and food affairs. The Commission was tasked to look at the feasibility of adopting the technology two years ago, but no regulations have been put in place so far.

The hearing discussion was focused on improvement of the technology regulation through laws; involvement of the legislative branch in drafting the law; and giving of incentives to the technology developers, seed industries and researchers. Sentiments were forwarded to agricultural policy makers in Indonesia to seriously consider biotechnology in helping to solve the country’s food problems. In turn, officials promised to discuss this recommendation with related departments and multi-stakeholders in Indonesian agriculture.

For more information on the hearing discussion, email Dr. Bambang Purwantara of IndoBIC at b.purwantara@biotrop.org