Waste paper import rule to be revoke: Singgih<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Attorney General Singgih said yesterday he will
\nsoon revoke the ruling issued by his office in the early 1980s
\nthat requires that waste paper imports be shipped in container
\nboxes instead of in bulk cargo.<\/p>\n
\"We are now reviewing the ruling,\" Singgih said in response to
\nreporters' questions as to why the Attorney General's Office is
\ninvolved in regulating waste paper imports, thereby increasing
\nthe costs of that material.<\/p>\n
Singgih clarified that his office will maintain its
\nresponsibility for preventing the smuggling of pornography and
\nideologically dangerous information through waste paper imports.<\/p>\n
Singgih's disclosure yesterday answered the puzzling questions
\nabout the costly red tape in waste paper importing and stopped
\nthe debate between several government offices over the issue.<\/p>\n
An official of the industry ministry disclosed early this
\nweek that Minister of Industry Tunky Ariwibowo had sent letters
\nto the trade minister and the chief of the Environmental
\nManagement Agency asking them to free waste paper imports and to
\nlift waste paper out of the classification of dangerous and toxic
\nmaterials.<\/p>\n
Tunky's letters were prompted by complaints from paper
\nproducers that the import costs of waste paper -- their main raw
\nmaterial -- are unusually high due to the requirement to ship
\nwaste paper in container boxes and to have the container boxes
\nchecked by officials of the trade and industry ministries and the
\nAttorney General's Office.<\/p>\n
The complaints have been expressed amid reports of the steep
\nincrease in the price of newsprint over the last few months.<\/p>\n
However, Nabiel Makarim, deputy chief of the Environmental
\nManagement Agency, stated on Tuesday that his office had nothing
\nto do with the ruling on the use of containers and had never
\nclassified waste paper among dangerous and toxic wastes.<\/p>\n
Makarim added that any regulation of import procedures was the
\nresponsibility of the trade ministry.<\/p>\n
Shipping<\/p>\n
Minister of Trade Satrio B. Joedono said on a separate
\noccasion yesterday that his office had never required waste paper
\nimports to be shipped in container boxes.<\/p>\n
\"Why don't you ask the industry minister as to which ruling of
\nmy office has imposed such a requirement,\" Joedono told newsmen
\nafter he attended a seminar on power marketing yesterday.<\/p>\n
He said he did not see any urgency in requiring waste paper
\nimports to be shipped in container boxes.<\/p>\n
\"But I don't know who has imposed such a ruling. If such a
\nregulation does exist, it should be revoked by the one who has
\nissued it,\" Joedono added.<\/p>\n
The trade minister was not the only one who did not know the
\nsource of the ruling. Tunky's letters to the trade minister and
\nthe Environmental Management Agency also disclosed uncertainty on
\nthe matter.<\/p>\n
Joedono also said that the steep rise in the costs of waste
\npaper imports has been caused mainly by the larger demand for
\nthat material.<\/p>\n
The use of waste paper has dramatically increased as
\nenvironmental rulings have forced many paper mills to decrease
\nthe use of wood pulp, Joedono added.<\/p>\n
In a related development, Amirudin Saud, chairman of the
\nImporters Association, said containerized cargo is 10 percent
\ncostlier than bulk cargo.<\/p>\n
If waste paper imports are allowed to be shipped in bulk form,
\ntheir shipment and handling costs will be lower than those in
\ncontainer boxes, Amirudin added. (vin)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/waste-paper-import-rule-to-be-revoke-singgih-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}