Customs to check illegal rice imports

JAKARTA (JP): The customs and excise office will investigate reports of illegal rice imports in a bid to protect local farmers.

The director general of customs and excise of the Ministry of Finance, Permana Agung, said on Monday that his office would soon verify all documents on rice brought into Indonesia since Jan. 1 to find out if there was any manipulation of import activities.

"It is possible that some mischievous importers have manipulated the documents. If convicted, they will face five years imprisonment and/or Rp 500 million (US$71,428) in fines," he was quoted by Antara as saying.

He said official data from the customs office showed approximately 5,550 tons of rice were imported by private importers since Jan. 1.

No irregularities, had been, were found so far with the rice importation, he said.

The government will raise import duties on rice from 10 percent to 30 percent beginning April, this year, following a strong lobbying from farmers who said they would not be able to compete with imported rice at the current duty rate.

The farmer association's chairman, Siswono Yudhohusodo, said recently that many traders took advantage of the planned duty increase by importing more rice. When the new duty takes effect, traders will receive higher profits but local rice producers will lose out.

Siswono said many traders had smuggled rice into the country, resulting in the influx of imported rice on the market.

"Illegal rice imports are beyond control, partly due to the lack of control and law enforcement by customs officials in charge of monitoring the flux of rice imports through major ports across the country," he said.

He said the sale of illegally imported rice had severely affected farmers because the rice, which generally is better quality, was sold at a cheaper price.

Imported rice of medium quality sold at about Rp 1,800 per kilogram last week, while local rice of the same quality sold at about Rp 2,400 per kilogram.

Siswono, however, did not provide further details on the alleged illegal import.

Permana said he had sent a letter to Siswono asking for a complete report and data from the association to be used in the verification and investigation. (cst)