Govt temporarily bans rice imports<\/p>\n
P.C. Naommy, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The Ministry of Industry and Trade has issued a decree
\ntemporarily banning rice imports during the upcoming harvest
\nseason in a bid to help protect farmers' incomes.<\/p>\n
Antara said that Ministerial Decree No. 9\/MPP\/Kep\/1\/2004 was
\nsigned by Minister of Industry and Trade Rini MS Soewandi on
\nSaturday, and was effective immediately.<\/p>\n
The decree imposes a temporary ban on rice imports a month
\nbefore, during, and two months after the upcoming harvest season.<\/p>\n
\"This regulation shall not apply to importers whose rice
\nshipments are due to arrive in port by Jan. 20 at the latest,\"
\nthe ruling states.<\/p>\n
The Ministry of Agriculture will determine when exactly the
\nharvest season is, but it normally occurs in March.<\/p>\n
The Ministry of Industry and Trade's director of imports, Aang
\nKanaan Adikusumah, said that the ruling was issued to protect
\nfarmers as an influx of rice imports during the harvest season
\nwould result in lower prices.<\/p>\n
\"The ban will only be for around four months ... sometime
\nbetween February and May,\" he said.<\/p>\n
\"We hope that through this measure, farmers will be encouraged
\nto plant more rice and increase their productivity ... The
\nMinister of Agriculture has also said that national rice
\nproduction is sufficient to meet local demand,\" he added.<\/p>\n
He further explained that in should the upcoming harvest fail,
\nthe Minister of Industry and Trade would appoint designated
\nimporters to make rice purchases overseas so as to avoid the
\nprice of rice from increasing precipitously, thus hurting
\nconsumers. The imported rice would have to be shipped through
\npredetermined ports.<\/p>\n
Aang said that the Ministry of Industry and Trade, and the
\nMinistry of Agriculture had set up a joint team to monitor the
\nimplementation of the temporary import ban.<\/p>\n
Indonesia usually imports between 1.8 million and 2 million
\ntons of rice per year.<\/p>\n
Pro-farmer activists have complained about the flood of cheap
\nrice imports into the country, which has been hurting the income
\nof farmers. They argue that since rice, the main staple of
\nIndonesians, is a politically strategic commodity, farmers must
\nbe protected.<\/p>\n
But others say that the rice import ban will only cause an
\nincrease in the price of the commodity at home due to the limited
\nsupply, which in turn would also hurt farmers as they are also
\nnet rice consumers.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/govt-temporarily-bans-rice-imports-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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