The Minister of Industry with a view to implementing National policy on the development of the food and beverage industry has issued Regulation No. 25/M-IND/3/2007. The Regulation establishes an Information Center to address remaining obstructions to the continued expansion of the industry. One of these obstructions is persistent misleading information that threatens the overall development of the food and beverage industry.

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This Draft Government Regulation (Draft) is the downstream component (see ILB 29/11/2006 for the upstream component) of the regulations that are to be put into place to facilitate compliance with the revised regulatory framework in the post-Constitutional Court judicial review of the Oil and Gas Law (Law No. 22 of 2001). The primary purpose of the Draft is to increase legal certainty while providing for a much improved investment climate.

The Government is in the middle of deliberations over a Draft Government Regulation (RPP / Rancangan Peraturan Pemerintah) which once agreed will replace Government Regulation No. 35 of 2004 (PP 35/2004). The reason for a new Government Regulation to replace the current one is that the current one is not sufficiently detailed and therefore lacks the necessary controls that it ought to have over the activities conducted in the oil & gas sector.

The Minister of Finance (MoF) recently issued Regulation No.100/PMK.02/2006 (Regulation), which removes the tariffs previously levied against coal exports under Regulation No. 95/PMK.02/2005 (Reg. 95) as amended by Regulation No. 131/PMK.010/2005 (Reg. 131). The necessity for this is found and is based on Supreme Court (MA) Decision No. 07P/HUM/TAHUN 2006 of 21 July 2006. The MA decision cancelled at law Reg. 95 and Reg. 131 and further instructed the MoF to repeal the Regulations.

The Center for Reporting and Analysis of Financial Transactions (PPATK) will cease to be considered a paper tiger without teeth if the Bill on Money Laundering is passed in its current form. The expanded powers include the authority to freeze suspect accounts and transactions, a right to conduct investigations, and a right to tap communications. This is a significant, perhaps even an exponential increase in powers compared to what the PPATK enjoys now.

The Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Regulation, No. 48 of 2006, is to facilitate the implementation of Article 23A of Government Regulation No. 10 of 1989. This Government Regulation has been amended several times and the most recent of these amendments are contained in Government Regulation No. 26 of 2006.