Aspelindo welcomes requirement for lubricant quality control

JAKARTA (JP): The Association of Indonesian Lubricant Producers (Aspelindo) hailed yesterday a Jan. 12 government regulation requiring lubricant producers and importers to register their products with the Ministry of Mines and Energy.

Association chairman AP Batubara said the regulation would force producers to control the quality of their products.

The regulation will also discourage irresponsible businesspeople from marketing substandard lubricant products, Batubara added.

"The association has long been concerned with the abundance of poor quality lubricants on the domestic market. The producers of such lubricants have created losses for the public (because the lubricants) quickly damage their machines," Batubara said.

"They also create losses for investors who produce good quality lubricants by taking much of the market portion from them with their cheap lubricants," Batubara said.

Batubara is also the vice president of PT Wiraswasta Gemilang Indonesia, the country's second largest lubricant producer after state oil and gas company Pertamina.

Minister of Mines and Energy I.B. Sudjana issued a regulation on Jan. 12 obliging all lubricant producers and importers to register their products with the ministry.

"Lubricants which do not carry the so-called lubricant register mark (produced by the Directorate General of Oil and Gas of the Ministry of Mines and Energy) should be withdrawn from the market by the companies (producers)," Sudjana said.

The decree stipulates "imported lubricants, whose marketing is not conducted by sole distributors, should be registered by the importers."

Director General of Oil and Gas Soepraptono Soelaiman issued a decree on Jan. 26 ordering all lubricant producers, importers and distributors to apply for the lubricant register mark within three months after the issuance of the ministerial decree.

"Lubricants which already were in the market on the issuance of the ministerial decree can still be sold and distributed for one year after the issuance of the decree," Seopraptono stated.

Batubara said there were 144 brands of lubricants in the market sold at cheap prices with labels not clearly identifying the producers or distributors.

Such brands control 25 percent of market demand which totals 600,000 tons of lubricants annually.

"Since the identities of the producers are hidden, we strongly believe the producers must have ill motives. Consumers cannot complain if the lubricants cause damage to their machines," Batubara said.

Members of Aspelindo, founded in July 1997, include Wiraswasta, which produces Pennzoil and Eva Lube; PT Dirga Buana Sarana, which produces Valvoline and Union Oil; PT Agip Lubrindo Pratama; PT Cemerlang Pelumas Prima and PT Panutan Selaras.

Pertamina, the country's largest lubricant producer with its Mesran brand, will probably join the association in the future, Batubara said. (jsk)