Indonesia’s Food and Drug Authority (BPOM) has issued Regulation No. 7 of 2026 on Drug Promotion and Advertising, establishing an updated framework for promotional activities involving medicinal products in Indonesia. The regulation took effect on April 16, 2026, and supersedes BPOM Regulation No. 2 of 2021 on Drug Advertising Supervision. The new regulation maintains general principles for advertising content, including requirements that advertisements be objective, complete, and not misleading, as further detailed in its annex. It also confirms that advertisements for nonprescription drugs directed to the public must obtain prior approval from BPOM before publication and must be in Bahasa Indonesia. The regulation provides a more comprehensive framework governing how drug promotion is conducted, introducing several notable additions and changes, as described below. Procedure and Requirements for Drug Advertisement Approval To apply for a drug advertisement approval, applicants must create an online account through the dedicated portal SIAPIK. Advertisement approval is available only for registered drugs; unregistered drugs are not eligible for advertisement approval with BPOM. The application must include the advertisement design, along with a translation if the design contains any wording in a foreign language. The submission format varies by media type, requiring, for example, copies in the form of print advertisements for visual media, scripts for audio media, and storyboards for audiovisual media. For online media—including social media—submissions should include any captions, descriptions, and hashtags that form an integral part of the advertising material. The approval timeline takes approximately 3–4 months, as BPOM will generally request additional information or revisions during the verification and evaluation process. Applicants have 20 days to submit any such requested documents. BPOM may also conduct a reevaluation of advertisements that have already received approval, based on monitoring results or new information regarding the safety and quality of the advertised drug. This

Vietnam’s legal framework governing chemicals has undergone significant reform, with the Law on Chemicals No. 69/2025/QH15 (Law on Chemicals 2025) taking effect on January 1, 2026. Together with a comprehensive set of implementing instruments issued in January 2026, including three decrees (No. 24/2026/ND‑CP, No. 25/2026/ND‑CP, and No. 26/2026/ND‑CP) and two circulars (No. 01/2026/TT‑BCT and No. 02/2026/TT‑BCT), the Law on Chemicals 2025 has significantly reshaped chemical registration and management requirements. Determining What Constitutes a “New Chemical” Among the most notable changes introduced under the Law on Chemicals 2025 are the rules governing the registration and management of new chemicals, which must be registered with the authority before being placed on the Vietnam market. Although the concept of new chemical registration was first introduced under the Law on Chemicals 2007, the corresponding registration mechanism has remained largely dormant in practice. Under the Law on Chemicals 2025, a “new chemical” is defined as a substance that is not yet included in Vietnam’s National Chemical Inventory and the list of foreign chemical inventories recognized by the competent Vietnamese authority (List of Foreign Chemicals). On a literal reading, the definition in the new law may suggest that a substance qualifies as a new chemical only if it is absent from both lists. Accordingly, a chemical present in either list should be treated as an existing chemical without the registration burden. However, a different interpretation emerges from Decree 26, which specifically requires registration of “new chemicals” even where such substances already appear in the List of Foreign Chemicals. This implies that inclusion in a recognized foreign inventory does not automatically exempt a substance from new chemical registration in Vietnam. This inconsistency between the statutory definition in the Law on Chemicals 2025 and the implementing provisions of Decree 26 creates significant interpretative and compliance challenges. At

Thailand has liberalized its wine import regime, allowing, for the first time, multiple importers to bring in and distribute the same wine brands. On March 27, 2026, the Ministry of Finance issued the Ministerial Regulation on the Importation of Alcoholic Beverages (No. 3) 2026, which waives the requirement to appoint a sole authorized agent for alcoholic beverages to be specified in notifications from the Excise Department. The Excise Department has already issued its first such notification, expressly exempting wine and sparkling wine made from grapes from the sole agent requirement. For all other types of alcoholic beverages (e.g., beer, tequila, spirits) the sole agent requirement remains in force, and applicants for importer licenses must provide evidence of exclusive distributorship issued by the manufacturer or brand owner. The exemption may be extended to other alcoholic beverage categories through future Excise Department notifications. Implications for Competition and Tourism The reform allows multiple importers to bring in and distribute the same wine brand without routing through the brand owner’s designated exclusive importer, reducing monopolization and boosting competition. Excise Department Director-General Pornchai Thirawet noted that wine was chosen as the starting point because implementation is straightforward in this case and because domestic wine prices remain high—with increased competition expected to exert downward pressure on prices. More broadly, the reform is intended to lower market entry barriers, expand supply, and make wine more accessible to Thai consumers, while supporting Thailand’s position as a regional tourism hub. Product Quality Control and Loss of Sole Agent Accountability Under the previous framework, the designated importer bore full responsibility for the proper storage, handling, and distribution of wine and sparkling wine from importation to final sale. This arrangement helped ensure that products were maintained under appropriate conditions, including temperature control, light exposure, and humidity management, to preserve quality

Effective June 22, 2026, Thai Industrial Standards (TIS) for food contact paper and cooking paper will be enforced as mandatory for sale in the Thai market. This move has important implications for product licensing and tightens hygiene, labeling, and chemical-safety requirements for food-contact and cooking paper products. Thailand is strengthening its regulatory framework for paper-based culinary materials against a backdrop of accelerating global commitments to ESG and sustainability, as such materials—particularly those derived from natural or recycled fibers—have emerged as key alternatives to plastics in food preparation, cooking, and packaging applications. As a result, regulators worldwide are tightening controls to ensure that sustainability initiatives do not compromise consumer safety, particularly regarding the potential migration of chemical substances into food. Regulatory Framework: Voluntary vs. Mandatory Standards Standards under the TIS regime are generally classified into two categories. Voluntary standards allow manufacturers or importers to apply for a product license and affix the TIS mark to demonstrate product quality and build consumer confidence, but compliance is not legally required. Mandatory standards, by contrast, require manufacturers and importers to obtain a product license and affix the TIS mark before placing products on the Thai market, and noncompliant products cannot be legally sold. Previously, the TIS standards for food contact paper (TIS 2948-2562) and cooking paper (TIS 3438-2022) fell under the voluntary standard regime, meaning that obtaining a TIS license and displaying the TIS mark was optional. However, due to the increasing use of paper in food preparation and cooking, the Thai Industrial Standards Institute has determined that upgrading these standards to mandatory status is necessary to enhance consumer safety. As a result, all paper intended for food contact or cooking purposes must now obtain a TIS product license prior to sale in Thailand. Scope of the Standards The primary distinction between the