Managing Greenwashing Risks: A Southeast Asian Lens
As governments, corporates and individuals double down on efforts on their sustainability and environmental, social and governance (ESG) agenda, there are emerging concerns of "greenwashing" and whether products and services labelled as "green" or "sustainable" are indeed so. What exactly is "greenwashing" and are there legal and regulatory frameworks in place to deal with this?
In this Guide, we aim to provide you with the state of play in the greenwashing legal landscape from a Southeast Asian perspective. Each Country Chapter provides a summary of the existing laws and regulations in each of the nine Southeast Asia jurisdictions that are available for enforcing against greenwashing, as well as some of their key regulators' approaches and initiatives to set clear and enforceable standards on green claims, green credentials, green products or green investments.
Resolving Construction Disputes through Dispute Adjudication Boards under Indonesian Law
Dispute adjudication boards ("DAB") are increasingly used to resolve disputes over international construction projects. Typically, DAB procedure is not prescribed by laws and/or regulations. It is usually the parties to the dispute that will agree on the applicable rules and procedures for the DAB, which the DAB will then follow. However, laws and regulations on DAB procedure are often enacted where government procurement is concerned.
Indonesia has taken a different approach to DAB procedure. On 21 April 2021, the Minister of Public Works and Housing ("MOPWH") issued MOPWH Regulation No. 11 of 2021 regarding the Procedure and Technical Guidelines for Construction Dispute Adjudication Board ("Regulation 11/2021"). Regulation 11/2021 regulates many aspects of DAB use and procedure. While the name suggests that it is a technical guideline, Regulation 11/2021 is in fact binding in nature, making it relevant to construction disputants.
Regulation 11/2021 demonstrates that the use of DAB is highly regulated in Indonesia. Parties with business activities in the construction industry will need to be aware of Regulation 11/2021 and the obligations imposed. This article will examine Regulation 11/2021 to provide a clear picture on how the Indonesian Government regulates the use of DAB.
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BUMN Omnibus Regulations Highlights Special Assignment and Environmental Social Responsibility Programs
The Minister of State-Owned Enterprises (“Minister”) issued the BUMN Omnibus Regulations at the end of March 2023, which consolidated and integrated over 45 ministry-level regulations. The Ministry’s aim in issuing the BUMN Omnibus Regulations is to synchronise the regulations pertaining to state-owned enterprises, which will support the integrated and sustainable management of state-owned enterprises.
How KPPU’S New Guidelines Use Data and Quantitative Approach to Enforce Antitrust Measures
This year, the Indonesia Competition Commission (“KPPU”) has made a series of measures to improve the country’s competition enforcement by issuing new regulations and guidelines. Most recently, the KPPU issued three new guidelines that will play a significant role in the handling of competition cases.
These guidelines, which were issued between December 2022 and February 2023, pertains to:
- Updating the rules for defining a relevant market, particularly in the framework of today’s digital economy;
- The criteria, indicators, tests, and steps that the KPPU can apply to measure and determine the negative impacts and the corresponding fine for an antitrust violation; and
- Updating the guidelines for bid-rigging, including on the use of indirect evidence.
While the KPPU can use these guidelines in handling antitrust cases, they also act as a helpful pointer for the public in understanding the KPPU’s views and methods.
Constitutional Court Rulings Illuminate Certain Provisions of the PDP Law
Shortly after the enactment of Law No. 27 of 2022 on Personal Data Protection ("PDP Law") on 17 October 2022 (click here and here to read our previous client alerts on the PDP Law), the Indonesian Constitutional Court received two distinct constitutional review petitions concerning the PDP Law.
As discussed in our previous client alerts, there were ambiguities in the PDP Law, and we mentioned these ambiguities are likely to be clarified through the Law’s implementing regulations, when such regulations are issued. While the government has not issued any implementing regulations for the PDP Law, the Constitutional Court’s rulings clarified some provisions of the Law, namely on personal and household processing of personal data and limitation of data subjects’ rights, specifically with regards to national security and defence.