House urges govt to ban sugar import<\/p>\n
Eva C. Komandjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The House of Representatives urged the government to put a
\ntemporary ban on all sugar imports until February 2004 to
\nstabilize the price of the commodity domestically.<\/p>\n
The call was made by the House's Commission V for industry,
\ntrade and cooperatives in their concluding remarks after a
\nhearing with state-owned plantation companies PT Perkebunan
\nNusantara IX, X and XI and PT Rajawali Nusantara Indonesia (RNI).
\nThe firms' has also demanded the ban.<\/p>\n
The four firms are among those which are authorized by the
\ngovernment to import sugar.<\/p>\n
Quoting the government's data, the Commission said there were
\napproximately 630,000 tons of sugar now being stored in the
\ncountry, and, if accurate, there would not be a deficit in supply
\nfor the next three months.<\/p>\n
With the temporary ban, the Commission believed that sugar
\nprices, passed on to consumers here could "stabilize" at between
\nRp 3,410 (40 U.S. cents) and Rp 4,500 per kilogram.<\/p>\n
Sugar trade has been a controversial issue in the country for
\nyears as most sugarcane farmers, particularly in Java, live a
\nhardscrabble existence because they cannot compete with the lower
\nprices of sugar imports. According to the farmers, sugar imported
\nfrom such countries as Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand and
\nIndia would sell at a lower price here, because they claim most
\nof them are illegally imported.<\/p>\n
In a move to help the farmers, Minister of Industry and Trade
\nRini MS Soewandi issued a ministerial decree in September last
\nyear to curb the imports. Under the decree, only manufacturing
\ncompanies which take 75 percent of their raw materials from local
\nfarmers, are allowed to import raw, refined and white sugar.<\/p>\n
However, analysts say the decree is still a far cry from being
\neffective.<\/p>\n
Illegally imported sugar has reportedly continued flooding the
\nmarket, while the government has also given an import license to
\nPT Perusahaan Perdagangan Indonesia (PPI), a pure trading firm --
\nseemingly in direct conflict with the ministerial decree which
\nallows only sugar manufacturers to import sugar. PPI is the
\nmerger of PT Pantja Niaga and PT Dharma Niaga, which in the past
\nmonopolized the importation of alcoholic drinks.<\/p>\n
According to government procedures, if smuggled sugar is
\nfound, the government will auction off the sugar to sugar
\nproducers.<\/p>\n
However, a member of Commission V, Mindo Sianipar said that
\nthe auction process itself was subject to corruption and
\ncollusion.<\/p>\n
"We fear that there are smugglers among the bidders for the
\nsugar auctions, so if they win the bid, they can claim that their
\ngoods are legal because they have the auction certificates," said
\nMindo.<\/p>\n
Elsewhere in the concluding remarks, the Commission said it
\nwould investigate the illegal sugar auction to determine whether
\nthe auction was carried out properly.<\/p>\n
The Commission also encouraged state-owned plantations and RNI
\nto distribute sugar, either imported or local, through small and
\nmedium enterprises (SMEs) such as cooperatives instead of larger
\ndistributors or the State Logistics Agency (Bulog) to promote
\ntheir growth, especially in remote areas.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/house-urges-govt-to-ban-sugar-import-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}