Importation of medications for personal use

The practice of importing personal medications from abroad involves individuals acquiring drugs from foreign countries for their own use. Often, people may need certain medications that are either unavailable or not easily accessible in their home country. Reasons for this could include local shortages, cost issues, or the requirement for a particular brand or formulation that is only available overseas. Nonetheless, in Indonesia, the importation of personal medications is governed by a range of legal, regulatory, and safety measures.

Requirement for a Distribution Permit for Medicines Intended for Personal Use

Under Indonesian Regulation Number 30 of 2017, as revised by Regulation Number 15 of 2020 by the Indonesian Food and Medicines Supervisory Agency (BPOM), all medicines imported for distribution in Indonesia must have a distribution permit authorized by the Head of BPOM. However, there are exemptions to this requirement, including:

1. Personal use, whether or not it is based on healthcare worker advice;
2. Research purposes;
3. Product and/or knowledge development;
4. Donations;
5. Samples for distribution permit registration;
6. Clinical trials for registration, product, or knowledge development;
7. Government programs;
8. Urgent national interests;
9. Special healthcare services use for products not produced domestically;
10. Exhibitions.

For the import of medicines and food for the purposes listed, such as personal use, research, product development, and exhibitions, the regulations stipulate that the items:

- Must not be intended for commercial use; and
- Should be in quantities that reflect the specific needs.

Therefore, medications brought into Indonesia for personal use from abroad are exempt from the requirement to secure a distribution permit from the Head of BPOM.

The complete regulation (in Bahasa Indonesia) can be downloaded here: https://peraturan.bpk.go.id/Details/181779/peraturan-bpom-no-15-tahun-2020