Export agency slams Australian imports ruling

JAKARTA (JP): A government-sponsored export promotion body slammed the Australian government on Tuesday for imposing a strict importation ruling, which it claimed curbed Indonesian and other neighboring countries' exports of food, beverages and shrimp products to the country.

The National Agency for Export Development (BPEN) of the Ministry of Industry and Trade said in a statement that Indonesia as well as neighboring countries grouped in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) had voiced complaints over the new ruling.

The agency said that under the importation policy, the Australian government had imposed restrictions on the import of shrimp products from ASEAN countries, particularly Indonesia, on charges that they contained the "white spot" virus.

Ambassadors from Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines and Myanmar in Canberra lodged a formal protest against the Australian ministry of forestry and agriculture, urging the Australian government to lift its restrictions as there had not yet been any scientific proof that the virus originated in Southeast Asia, the agency said.

The agency also said 13 different products from Indonesia had been put on hold by the Australian government and sent back in May of this year because the products did not have their ingredients listed in English.

The products included shrimp crackers, black tea, condensed milk, soft drinks, biscuits, noodles, chocolate wafers, tea bags, crackers, dehydrated seaweed, vanilla oil, peanut flour and powdered milk.

The government, along with the private sector, has established a special team to ensure that other products will not be sent back in the future, BPEN said.

The Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service has imposed strict restrictions on all imported food and beverages to ensure that every product entering the country meets its standards of health and labeling.

The Australian government agency also requires that all imported food and beverages' packaging lists the product's chemical ingredients, and that products are packed according to government standards.

Trade with Australia increased by 12.98 percent between January and March of this year to US$750 million, compared to the same period last year.

However, Indonesian exports suffered a deficit of $10 million during that period, with exports from here valued at $370 million while Australian imports totaled $380 million.

Oil and gas exports to Australia during the first three months of the year totaled $181 million, or an increase of 99.35 percent from the same period last year.

Non-oil exports suffered a 24 percent decline compared to last year, totaling $189 million.

Out of the 41 types of non-oil and gas products whose exports are monitored by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, some 14 experienced an increase in export to Australia while 27 suffered a decline.

The products which experienced an export increase include telecommunications products, chemical products, electrical equipment and raw and synthetic rubber.

Products which suffered a decline in exports include nonmonetary gold, cardboard and paper products, wood products, mineral products, organic chemical products, thread, textiles, chocolate and spices, BPEN said. (tnt)