Govt to raise import duty on sugar again<\/p>\n
YOGYAKARTA (JP): Minister of Agriculture Bungaran Saragih said
\nhere on Saturday that the government would further raise the
\nimport duty on sugar from the current 25 percent in order to
\nprotect local producers from cheap imports.<\/p>\n
\"We, along with the other ministries involved, are discussing
\nthe ideal increase that would be capable of protecting local
\nproducers,\" he told reporters on the sidelines of a seminar on
\nIndonesia's sugar industry.<\/p>\n
At the seminar held at the Garuda Natour Hotel, the minister
\nsaid the planned rise would not be too high so that the move
\nwould not hurt consumers.<\/p>\n
At least 2.2 million tons of imported sugar flooded the local
\nmarket in 1999 as a result of the government's decision to lift
\nthe import tariff in 1998 as part of its reform commitment agreed
\nwith the International Monetary Fund (IMF).<\/p>\n
The influx of cheap sugar led to a drastic drop in local sugar
\nproduction to 1.50 million tons in 1999 compared to more than 2
\nmillion tons in 1998.<\/p>\n
The national demand for sugar is 3 million tons per year.<\/p>\n
The government imposed a 25 percent import duty late last year
\nbut local producers said that the new tariff was still too low.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Adyarto Mochtar, the financial director of the
\nSurabaya-based state plantation company PT PTPN XI, said that the
\ncurrent import tariff had helped to curb sugar imports.<\/p>\n
\"But it is still too low to restore sugar producers to their
\nnormal condition,\" he told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
He pointed out that at the current rupiah exchange rate of
\nabout Rp 9,250 against the U.S. dollar, imported sugar should be
\nsold locally at above Rp 3,000 per kilogram. (44)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/govt-to-raise-import-duty-on-sugar-again-1447893297",
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