446. Firstly, we would like to thank South Africa for registering this agenda item for this TRIPS Council meeting. There are many ways for us to achieve and promote public health objectives for the good of public interest and one of those ways is through competition law. In this opportunity, Indonesia would like to share its experience related to the topic of this agenda item.
447. Indonesia enacted a law in 1999 which prohibits monopolistic practices and unfair business competition among business actors. Within that law, there is a mandate for Indonesia to establish an agency to implement provisions within the anti-monopoly law. The Indonesian Anti-Monopoly Agency was established in 1999 and since its kick-off in the year of 2000 until 2017 it has handled 348 cases including collecting fines of up to IDR 2.07 trillion.
448. Based on Article 50 letter (b) of the anti-monopoly law, there is an exception concerning exclusive rights of intellectual property rights (IPRs). However, the exclusivity of IPRs cannot be considered unlimited. Based on the anti-monopoly law, if monopolistic practices and unfair business competition are found through the use IPRs, the agency has an obligation make corrections.
449. In 2010, there was a case which was handled by the agency, Case Number 17/KPPU-I/2010 concerning Prohibition of Monopolistic Practices and Unfair Business Competition Law on Amlodipine Therapy Class Pharmaceutical Industry. This case contained issues on the dominant position of cartels in determining prices for certain medicines. Within its finding, the agency determined that the exclusivity of IPRs cannot be classified as a license agreement but rather as a supply agreement.
450. In the health industry of a country of about 260 million people, "pricing abuse" often occurs in the pharmaceutical sector, where the price of drugs and medicine tends to be very high. It happens because drugs are considered as inelastic goods, where prices and demand do not affect each other. Such conditions created a notion in Indonesia that the price of drugs must be controlled to prevent further abuses and most importantly to protect consumers and the public interest.
451. Hence the Indonesian Government created a regulation related to drug pricing which guides the upper limit price for certain medicines. In addition to that, an electronic catalogue on drugs and medicines, which is used as a tool to support the National Health Insurance System, was also introduced. Since the introduction of this initiative, there is a tendency for drugs and medicine prices to decrease in Indonesia.
452. This is an example on how the anti-monopoly law is used in Indonesia to ensure public interest. We look forward to hearing other Members' experiences on this subject matter.
