The Indonesian government ensures that mitigation measures related to the findings of radioactive cesium-137 (Cs-137) exposure in the Cikande industrial area, Serang, Banten, are carried out in a coordinated manner across ministries.
This issue became a concern after the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a new policy requiring radioactive-free certificates for shrimp and spice exports from Indonesia.
Industry Minister Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita emphasized that public safety and the feasibility of the industrial environment are the government's top priorities. Agus stated that all industrial activities in Indonesia must run according to the principles of public safety and applicable health and environmental standards.
"This radiation issue must be handled quickly, scientifically, and transparently so as not to disrupt public confidence in domestic manufactured products," Agus said in a press release, Monday (13/10/2025).
According to the Ministry of Industry, coordination of handling is carried out with the Coordinating Ministry for Food, the Nuclear Energy Regulatory Agency (Bapeten), and local governments. The joint inter-agency team has conducted direct monitoring in the field to ensure there is no impact on public health or industrial activities in the area.
The government also formed the Cs-137 Radionuclide Radiation Hazard Handling Task Force involving various ministries and institutions. The Ministry of Industry is one of the active members of this task force to ensure the safety of raw materials, production processes, and distribution of industrial products is maintained in Cikande.
The Ministry of Industry ensures that there are no indications that radiation exposure in the region affects the supply chain or the quality of manufactured products. "Indonesian manufactured products are safe and in accordance with international quality standards. The Ministry of Industry routinely conducts quality supervision and certification through industrial standardization institutions," Agus said.
The Ministry of Industry also emphasized the importance of strengthening the industrial environment governance system to prevent similar risks in the future. The government is preparing new guidelines for integrated monitoring between industrial estate managers, local governments and technical ministries to ensure public safety and investment sustainability.
Kawasan Industri (KI) Modern Cikande is one of the strategic industrial estates in Banten Province, established since 1991 and managed by PT Modern Industrial Estate. This area has an industrial estate business license (IUKI) of 1,463 hectares, accommodating 271 tenants, with 181 of them already operating and absorbing more than 45 thousand workers.
Shrimp industry
On the other hand, fisheries businesses are waiting for technical certainty from the government and FDA regarding the radioactive-free certification process. Chairman of Shrimp Club Indonesia (SCI) Andi Tamsil said that the FDA has given confidence to the Quality Agency of the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (KKP) as a Certifying Entity (CE) institution to issue shrimp export certificates to America.
However, until now, the technical process of implementing certification is still in the negotiation stage. "Until now, the tool specifications are not yet available, the measurement SOP is also not yet available," Andi said. He added that businesses have asked about the readiness of the Quality Agency in carrying out the mandate because the deadline from the FDA will take effect on October 31, 2025.
According to Andi, the absence of technical guidance has made the process of procuring radiation measuring devices impossible. He assessed that clarity of specifications and procedures from the FDA is important so that Indonesian test results can be accepted without obstacles in America.
In addition to the certification issue, SCI also highlighted the existence of shrimp containers that had already sailed to the US before the FDA policy was announced in early October. Andi said the government is negotiating to ensure that these containers are not affected by the new rules. "That is also being negotiated, the government is asking the FDA for dispensation," he said.
In a meeting with Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Sakti Wahyu Trenggono today, Tuesday, SCI conveyed the conditions in the field which are now affected by the slowdown in harvest purchases. Many cold storages, Andi said, are holding back purchases because they are waiting for certainty of exports to America.
"They are also unsure, lest they be bought and not delivered," Andi said. During the meeting, Andi said the government plans to invite cold storage associations to ensure the absorption of pond products continues to run and ensure that exports will soon return to normal.
Farmers had also questioned whether they could continue stocking seeds amid market uncertainty. According to Andi, the government ensures that cultivation activities can continue. "The Minister said, just spread the seeds, it will be done. The government is very confident that this will soon be able to be sent again to America," he said.
Benedictus Krisna Yogatama
SCI hopes that negotiations between the Indonesian government and the FDA can reach an agreement before the October 31 deadline so that shrimp exports are not disrupted. "We hope this week there will be something clearer," Andi said. He emphasized that the association supports the government's move and is ready to help in terms of technical and test facilities.
Japan experienced a similar situation after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear reactor leak in 2011 led to a ban on imports of food products by more than 50 countries. The Japanese government responded by implementing a national radiation surveillance system, testing every batch of products, and regularly publishing test results to the public and trading partners. The test data is the basis for export destination countries to assess Japan's food safety.
In its official report, the FDA assessed that Japan carried out consistent radiation surveillance for ten years, until they finally revoked Import Alert #99-33 on September 22, 2021.
"After conducting a thorough analysis of Japan's stringent control measures, which include decontamination, monitoring, and enforcement processes, and after reviewing the results of sampling of food products from Japan over the past 10 years, and confirming that the risk of radioactive exposure to American consumers from imported products of Japanese origin is very low, FDA determined that the import restrictions are no longer necessary to protect public health and will therefore be lifted," the report states.
According to Reuters, after a similar review by the European Commission, two years later the EU lifted restrictions on Japanese food imports on July 13, 2023 on the condition that Japan continued its monitoring system and open publication of radiation data. Reuters reported that the series of policies allowed Japanese food exports to increase again, recording the highest value in 2024 of 1.507 trillion yen.
