Live Export

Indonesian president signs new meat import regulation

James Nason, 10/03/2016

There have been further developments this week on the Indonesian Government’s ongoing moves to open its market to beef, other meat and possibly cattle from alternative new sources such as India and Mexico.

On Tuesday Indonesian president Joko Widodo signed a Government Regulation (PP) under the Animal Husbandry and Animal Health Law No.41 of 2014 to allow the import of meat and livestock products from zones within countries.

However the full detail of the new regulation is not yet known because it must first be registered by the State Secretary before it is made available, and a public holiday in Indonesia yesterday prevented that from happening.

Indonesian media reports yesterday quoted Indonesia’s economic coordinating minister Darmin Nasution as saying more imports are needed to drive down the price of beef, which he said is currently in the range of Rp 110,000 – Rp116,000 per kilogram.

Previously, Agriculture Minister Amran Sulaiman said Indonesia needs 675,000 tons of meat or equal to 3.6 million of cattle. Currently, he said, the country only produces 442,000 tonnes of meat and needs to import to fill the shortfalls from other countries.

The Indonesian government is seeking to change the country’s Animal Husbandry and Animal Health Law No.41 of 2014 to allow meat and livestock to be imported from approved zones within countries, even if other parts of the same country are affected by disease such as Foot and Mouth Disease.

The current law requires imports from approved countries only.

The proposed changes would require imported livestock to be placed at a quarantine island for a certain period.

Well-placed sources have told Beef Central that there are still more developments required before proposed law changes could take effect.

The process for approving a meat establishment to export under the current framework and Animal Health Law 41/2014 requires a risk analysis of the country, audits of the systems, written applications to be submitted and assessed for the individual establishments, and approval of halal supervisors among other things.

There is also a Constitutional Court judicial review considering the validity of a zone based system that is still underway.

 

HAVE YOUR SAY

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Your comment will not appear until it has been moderated.
Contributions that contravene our Comments Policy will not be published.

Comments

Get Beef Central's news headlines emailed to you -
FREE!