Firm's monopoly to sell pesticide stickers queried
Firm's monopoly to sell pesticide stickers queried
JAKARTA (JP): Pesticide producers complained last week about
the agriculture ministry's ruling that requires them to attach
hologram stickers to the containers of their products before they
can be sold, saying that it would cause additional costs.
The complaints were raised amid the dispute currently raging
between beer brewers and another private monopoly which issues
and sells stickers for beer and other alcoholic drinks to be sold
in Bali.
The chairman of the Association of Indonesian Pesticide
Manufacturers, Mangara S. Sitanggang, said the association was
still negotiating with the Ministry of Agriculture's Pesticide
Commission about the terms and the price of the stickers.
Earlier last week, the association of beer producers also
complained about the high alcohol levy collected by a private
company, PT Arbamas Multi Invesco.
"We will also discuss whether or not we should change the
mechanism of obtaining the stickers," Sitanggang said, as quoted
by the Bisnis Indonesia daily on Saturday.
On Thursday, Minister of Agriculture Sjarifudin Baharsjah said
pesticides should bear hologram stickers to be printed by PT Aryo
Seto, a private company, before the agrochemical can be sold on
the market to protect users from the fraudulent products.
Sjarifudin said users of pesticides, especially farmers,
should take extra caution when using the chemicals because they
are often highly toxic.
"We must stop the circulation of imitation pesticides which
can be very dangerous substances," he said after a hearing with
legislators.
Sjarifudin said his office basically supported any effort to
curb the circulation of counterfeit products and improve the
quality of the pesticides currently on the market.
The ministry issued a decree, dated Nov. 20, 1995, requiring
each pesticide container to carry a sticker indicating its
authenticity. The decree will be effective as of April 20.
Manufacturers failing to attach the sticker will face
administrative penalties and might have their licenses revoked.
To obtain the stickers, manufacturers will have to make a bank
payment and then show the receipt to the Ministry of
Agriculture's Pesticide Commission.
The stickers will be produced by PT Aryo Seto, the same
company which has been licensed by the government as the monopoly
in making urea tablets from prilled urea fertilizer.
Mangara said he hoped the government would consider
simplifying procedures to allow manufacturers to buy the stickers
directly from the commission instead of from the private
monopoly.
He considers the current procedure time and money consuming.
In the long run, he said, it would affect product prices and
become a burden on farmers, who were the main users of
pesticides.
Mangara hoped the price wouldn't exceed Rp 100 (4.3 U.S.
cents) a sticker.
The association consists of 14 pesticide manufacturers.
If the decree is enforced, an estimated 200 million stickers
will be needed every year, generating Rp 20 billion in revenue.
Most of the money will go directly to Aryo Seto, the sole
producer. (pwn)