Government mulls lifting duties on sugar-based products: Rini
Government mulls lifting duties on sugar-based products: Rini
Mochammad N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Minister of Trade and Industry Rini M.S. Soewandi said on
Wednesday that the government was considering raising import
duties on sugar-based products, a policy that may give rise to
international criticism as it goes against the trade
liberalization agenda.
Rini said that the policy was needed to help protect local
industry against imported products.
"We are now discussing the plan," she told reporters at a
press conference.
Rini said that her office was cooperating with the Ministry of
Agriculture and the Ministry of Finance in discussing the new
plan.
She declined to provide details.
The government currently imposes import duties of between zero
percent and 5 percent on sugar-based products.
But import duty on raw sugar and white sugar, raw materials
for the local confectionery industry, are set at 20 percent and
25 percent respectively.
Many local confectioners have had to import sugar because
domestic sugar production has not been sufficient to meet their
needs.
According to one estimate, Indonesia's sugar imports this year
are expected to reach between 1.2 million tons and 1.5 million
tons, compared to 1.2 million tons last year.
Separately, Thomas Dharmawan, executive director of the
Indonesian Food and Beverages Association (Gapmmi), welcomed the
planned hike in import duties on sugar-based products, saying
that the local industry should be protected so as to create more
jobs.
But he said the government must be ready to accept criticism
from other countries as such a move would be against the policies
of the World Trade Organization as well as the ASEAN Free Trade
Area agenda.
Therefore, he proposed that the government impose other forms
of taxes which were allowed worldwide under the so-called
"safeguard measures."
Thomas pointed out as an example that the French government
had applied an 8.5 percent import duty on sugar-based products,
plus a tax of US$0.50 per kilogram of imported sugar.
"If the French can, we can too," he told the Jakarta Post.