There has not yet been any formal announcement from the Indonesian Government about an increase in imported boxed beef quota permits, despite incorrect reports to the contrary in Indonesian and Australian media in recent days.

Australian Meat Industry Council spokesman Steve Martyn confirmed this morning that no official advice had yet been issued.

From July 1 (Friday this week), Indonesia’s Ministry of Commerce is likely to assume the licensing authority responsibilities to import beef and cattle that were previously held by the Ministry of Agriculture. It is only after that date that authorities are likely to make new quota levels known, Mr Martyn said.

However Beef Central understands through trade sources that the suggestion that overall annual quota for 2011 will increase from 72,000t to 93,000t, or thereabouts, will proceed. That comes despite the fact that as recently as Monday last week, the Directorate General of Livestock Services confirmed that current quota levels remained at 72,000t for 2011.

“Clearly there are changes coming in both the management of import quotas and their availability,” an AMIC member report said recently.

“If 40,000t was available for the first half of the year, a similar amount should be available for the second half, with an additional quantity for Ramadan even without a live cattle suspension – so the 93,000t sounds plausible,” the report said.

Beef Central first broke the news that Indonesia was looking to lift beef import quota levels in an article on June 16