Ministers deny restrictions on clove trade<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The government has denied any knowledge of a new
\nrestriction on the trading of cloves, stressing it will no longer
\ninterfere with the distribution and sale of the commodity.<\/p>\n
Industry and Trade Minister Mohamad 'Bob' Hasan reiterated
\nMonday that the government was committed to freeing up the clove
\ntrade and any other monopolistic arrangements, as it was a
\nmandate of the International Monetary Funds (IMF).<\/p>\n
\"No one in the ministry has approved any special arrangement
\nand we have no intention of doing so,\" Hasan said in a joint
\nstatement with the ministers of finance and cooperatives.<\/p>\n
\"We are committed to enforcing the new rules and that means
\nfree trade for farmers, traders and factories alike.\"<\/p>\n
The statement was issued in response to reports that PT
\nKembang Cengkeh Nasional (KCN), controlled by President
\nSoeharto's son Hutomo Mandala Putra, had allegedly continued the
\nmonopolistic practices of the dissolved Clove Marketing and
\nBuffer Stock Agency (BPPC).<\/p>\n
Under the IMF-brokered reform program, the government was
\nrequired to end the monopoly over cloves which BPPC had held
\nsince early 1991.<\/p>\n
The government has stated that it has ended the monopoly in
\nFebruary, as required by the Jan. 15 reform package agreed with
\nthe IMF, and has dissolved BPPC ahead of the June deadline.<\/p>\n
Cloves are the main ingredients in locally produced cigarettes
\nwhich consume more than 100,000 tons of the spice annually.<\/p>\n
Finance Minister Fuad Bawazier said in the joint statement
\nthat he had assigned his staff to painstakingly review its
\npractices, especially on the sale of excise tax stamps used on
\ncigarettes packets.<\/p>\n
\"I don't know what the practice was in the past, but I
\nguarantee there will be no requirement from now on for cigarette
\nfactories to buy clove from KCN as a condition to purchase excise
\ntax stamps,\" Fuad added in the statement.<\/p>\n
The chairman of the Association of Indonesian Cigarette
\nCompanies, Ismanoe Soemiran, told The Jakarta Post last week that
\nthe association's members remained unofficially required to buy
\ncloves from KCN as a prerequisite for buying excise stamps from
\nthe Directorate General of Customs and Excise.<\/p>\n
Cigarette producers cannot sell their cigarettes without the
\nexcise stamps.<\/p>\n
The newsweekly tabloid Kontan said in its latest issue on
\nFriday that the trading arrangement was designed to keep KCN --
\nwhich currently holds 167,000 tons of BPPC's clove stock -- in
\nbusiness.<\/p>\n
The now defunct BPPC was also controlled by Hutomo.<\/p>\n
Minister of cooperatives and Small Enterprises Subiakto
\nTjakrawerdaja also asserted in the statement that his ministry
\nhad met with farmer cooperatives last week to discuss the issue.<\/p>\n
Subiakto said the ministry would help cooperatives by
\nproviding the best ways for handling the sale of their cloves.<\/p>\n
\"But they have to manage any relationships with buyers on
\ntheir own and we won't interfere in any way,\" Subiakto added.<\/p>\n
The ministers said they were committed to fully implementing
\nthe new (free) clove trading system under the economic reform
\npackage.<\/p>\n
\"People should feel free to bring problems like this to our
\nattention so we can correct them as quickly as possible,\" Fuad
\nadded. (das)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/ministers-deny-restrictions-on-clove-trade-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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