Livestock exporters have welcomed indications that Indonesia will extend the validity of cattle import permits from three months to four months.

Australian livestock export industry leaders have been informed the Indonesian Minister of Trade has signed off revised import regulations to lengthen the validity of permits, which follows a similar recommendation made recently by the Indonesian Minister for Agriculture.

The Australian Livestock Exporters’ Council told Beef Central it has been informed the revised regulations will be registered with the Ministry of Justice shortly.

The new arrangements will mean that cattle import permits will be released three times a year for each four-month period starting in January, May and September. In the past permits have been issued four times a year for each quarter.

It is understood the extension will apply to the permits allocated for the opening period of 2016, meaning exporters should be able to continue shipping cattle to Indonesia in April if permits remain to be filled from the 200,000 originally allocated for the period.

Australian industry and Government representatives have been making a case for longer permit validity periods with Indonesia since early last year.

Their view is that having fewer and longer permit periods should help to smooth the flow of cattle to Indonesia, reduce the impact of demand spikes at the start of each quarter and associated shipping delays, delivering cost savings which in turn should benefit Indonesian consumers through lower beef prices.

ALEC said signs that the regulations will apply to first quarter permits issued in January was very good news for exporters.

“With this issue now close to resolution, we hope that we can have more certainty around import permits numbers prior to the commencement of trimesters.”