RI to import Irish meat, despite scare<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The government plans to go ahead with plans to
\nimport meat from Ireland despite a scare over contaminated
\nBelgian meat and food products, Minister of Agriculture Soleh
\nSolahuddin said here on Friday.<\/p>\n
Soleh said it was almost impossible the Irish meat was
\ncontaminated by the cancer-causing dioxin because the country was
\nlocated far enough away from Belgium.<\/p>\n
Soleh said dioxin would be more likely to affect countries
\nwhich bordered on Belgium, including the Netherlands and France.<\/p>\n
The ministry's director general of animal husbandry, Erwin
\nSoetirto, said Irish meat was cheaper because it was subsidized
\nby the Irish government.<\/p>\n
He said imported beef from Ireland could be sold for Rp 13,000
\nper kilogram here, cheaper than Australian meat which was sold
\nfor Rp 18,000 per kilogram.<\/p>\n
\"The Irish government only offers the subsidized meat to
\nIndonesia and the Philippines because they know that we are still
\nin a deep crisis. I think this is an opportunity we have to
\ntake,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Soleh said the Indonesian and Irish governments were
\ndiscussing the possibility of importing Irish meat.<\/p>\n
\"I will send a team headed by the director general of animal
\nhusbandry to Ireland later this month to further discuss the
\nplan. The most important thing is that Ireland has been declared
\nfree from the highly contagious foot-and-mouth disease and
\nrinderpest,\" Soleh said.<\/p>\n
In the wake of the dioxin scare, Erwin said it was unlikely
\nIndonesia would follow the lead of other Asian countries and ban
\nimports of farm and poultry products from Europe.<\/p>\n
Indonesia does not import a significant amount of farm and
\ndairy products from Europe, choosing to import the majority of
\nthese products from Australia and New Zealand.<\/p>\n
\"We do not import meat, chicken, dairy products or feed meal
\nfrom European Union countries, including Belgium, because their
\nprices are too high and the distance is too far, making the
\ntransportation costs higher than when importing from Australia.<\/p>\n
\"However, we import their cheese products. As far as I know,
\nthe amount (we import) is very small because most of the imported
\ncheese traded here is imported from Australia and New Zealand,\"
\nhe said.<\/p>\n
Belgium announced in late-May that high-levels of the cancer-
\ncausing dioxin found in its chickens and eggs had spread to the
\ncountry's pork, beef and dairy products.<\/p>\n
China on Thursday joined the list of Asian countries
\nrestricting Belgian -- and in some cases European -- food
\nimports. Countries which have also issued import restrictions
\ninclude Thailand, Singapore, South Korea, Malaysia and the
\nPhilippines, as well as Hong Kong.<\/p>\n
Reuters reported the European Union's executive body, the
\nEuropean Commission, on June 2 ordered its 15 member states to
\nensure all potentially dioxin-contaminated products, either food
\nor animal feed, be traced, removed from the market and destroyed.<\/p>\n
Indonesia imported 16,000 tons of beef last year, over 80
\npercent of which was from Australia.<\/p>\n
However, Soleh said the government would trace any imported
\nmeat and food products from the European Union.<\/p>\n
\"If there is any case of dioxin-contaminated products here,
\nthen we will issue a restriction (on food imports from the EU),\"
\nhe said. (gis)<\/p>",
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