Tanners ask for export tax on leathers<\/p>\n
Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The Indonesian Tanners Association has renewed calls for the
\ngovernment to reimpose export tax on raw leather to ensure
\nsufficient supplies at home, noting that many local tanneries
\nhave been closed or were facing bankruptcy due to limited
\nsupplies of raw materials.<\/p>\n
The association also urged the government to ease its rules
\ncurbing raw leather imports.<\/p>\n
\"That's the only way for the government to ensure the
\ncountry's tanning and leather industry survives,\" association
\nchairman Diyono Hening Sasmito told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Data from the association indicates that the number of
\ntanneries have steadily decreased since the government removed
\nexport tax on raw leather in 2000 to meet the economic reforms
\nset by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). In 1998, the export
\ntax stood at between 200 percent and 300 percent.<\/p>\n
Today, there are 47 medium and big tanneries across the
\ncountry with a total production of 72.5 million feet per year, as
\nagainst 112 tanneries with a total annual output of 210 million
\nfeet in 1998.<\/p>\n
\"We are almost dead. We now run at only 22 percent of our
\ncapacity,\" Diyono said.<\/p>\n
The removal of tax imports on raw leather had resulted in the
\nlack of raw materials on the local market. And the situation
\nworsened after exporting countries such as India, Pakistan and
\nBrazil limited their exports.<\/p>\n
Aside those countries, Indonesia also imports raw leather from
\nAustralia, Argentina, France, Germany and the United States.<\/p>\n
To make matters worse, the Ministry of Agriculture's
\nDirectorate General for Livestock Production issued a decree in
\n2001 banning the importation of raw leather, including wet
\npickle, wet blue, crust and finished leather from several
\ncountries for fear the commodities could bring foot-and-mouth
\ndisease into the country.<\/p>\n
\"Tens of thousands of workers have been laid off following the
\nclosure of hundreds of tanneries over the past several years,\"
\nDiyono said.<\/p>\n
He warned of thousands more layoffs this year unless the
\ngovernment reimposed export tax on raw leather.<\/p>\n
Tanneries' workers have declined from 12,560 in 1998 to 8,670
\nin 2000 and 5,620 in 2001.<\/p>\n
The downturn in the country's leather industry will certainly
\nhurt the country's footwear industry, which employs millions of
\nworkers and is one of the country's major contributors of foreign
\nexchange earnings.<\/p>\n
The association said it had discussed the problems several
\ntimes with related officials at both the Ministry of Industry and
\nTrade and the Ministry of Agriculture.<\/p>\n
In response to the hardship, Minister of Trade and Industry
\nRini M.Soewandi recently sent a letter to Finance Minister
\nBoediono asking the ministry to set the export tax on raw leather
\nat between 20 and 30 percent.<\/p>\n
The association together with some 23 associations on Monday
\nbrought their complaints to members of the House of
\nRepresentatives of Commission V overseeing the trade and industry
\naffairs.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/tanners-ask-for-export-tax-on-leathers-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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