Glembert
KN. The government, through the Coordinating Ministry for Food, has established a Food Safety Task Force, as announced by Coordinating Minister for Food Zulkifli Hasan following a cross-ministerial coordination meeting on February 9, 2026. This task force was formed to respond to various issues at the national and regional levels, such as hazardous material residues, food safety issues, and food emergencies.
The Food Safety Task Force will involve several ministries/institutions, including the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, the Ministry of Health, the National Food Agency, the Food and Drug Monitoring Agency (BPOM), and the police.
In line with the establishment of the Food Safety Task Force, the government also formulated regulations on mandatory sugar content labeling and the management of processed foods, including halal and non-halal certification, through Government Regulation Number 1 of 2026 concerning Food Safety. This regulation amends Government Regulation Number 86 of 2019.
Several matters were regulated in Government Regulation Number 1 of 2026 include food safety, including food sanitation, supervision of food additives, genetically engineered products, food irradiation, food packaging, food safety and quality assurance, and halal product assurance.
This regulation also establishes a mechanism for appointing food safety supervisors. Food supervisors will be appointed by the Minister of Agriculture, the Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, the Head of the National Food Agency, and regional heads.
On February 11, 2026, in Jakarta, Esther Sri Astuti, Executive Director of the Institute for Development of Economics and Finance, stated that food issues should be resolved through coordination across ministries and agencies, rather than forming a new task force. This is especially true given that the government already has a Coordinating Ministry for Food. Furthermore, the Food and Drug Monitoring Agency (BPOM) has already played a role in food oversight. According to her, the Food Safety Task Force is unnecessary and ineffective if its primary duties and functions are the same as those of the BPOM. She argued that establishing a Food Safety Task Force would waste the budget at a time when fiscal space is increasingly limited.
On February 11, 2026, in Jakarta, Isnawati Hidayah, a researcher at the Center for Economic and Law Studies, stated that the formation of the Food Safety Task Force deserves criticism. The current government has a habit of creating new structures rather than improving or optimizing existing ones. This is a bureaucratic disease. In the food context, BPOM has the authority to oversee and recall problematic products.
On February 11, 2026, in Jakarta, Olivia Herlinda, Chief Research and Policy Officer at the Center for Indonesia’s Strategic Development Initiatives, stated that food safety issues fall under the authority of various ministries/institutions, necessitating cross-sectoral coordination. The formation of a task force, meanwhile, indicates that coordination is not yet fully implemented at the coordinating ministry or technical ministry level.
On February 11, 2026, in Jakarta, Mohammad Faisal, Executive Director of the Center for Reform on Economics Indonesia, stated that coordinating existing institutions would be more efficient than establishing a new one. Furthermore, President Prabowo Subianto’s cabinet is already large, requiring a substantial budget. Coordination, however, falls under the responsibility of the Coordinating Ministry for Food, led by Zulkifli Hasan. He argued that the Coordinating Ministry’s authority should be related to production and distribution. Food safety falls under the purview of the Food and Drug Monitoring Agency (BPOM).
The formation of the Food Security Task Force has received criticism from various groups, including those claiming it does not solve the problem but only contributes to institutional overcrowding in the current administration. The formation of the task force would be unnecessary if coordination between ministries and state institutions were well-functioning. The task force is also considered to reflect a lack of understanding of structural government officials’ duties and functions, leading to a lack of competency. The excessive number of task forces under the Prabowo administration will also burden state financial management, especially if task force members view their formation as an opportunity to earn additional “take-home pay.”
Furthermore, the Food Security Task Force’s ability to enforce the law to ensure food security and safety in Indonesia is questionable, given the alleged presence of numerous cartels and mafias in the Indonesian food sector.
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