Govt blamed for low quality of RI cocoa

Govt blamed for low quality of RI cocoa

Eva C. Komandjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Indonesian cocoa exports have been labeled as low quality in
the international market, due to the lack of quality inspection
by the authorities, said Zulhefy Sikumbang, chairman of the
Indonesian Cocoa Association (Askindo), on Friday.

He said that for the past 10 years, the government had not
been serious in implementing the Indonesian National Standard
(SNI) requirement, and had allowed exporters to ship below-
standard cocoa.

"Low-quality cocoa that does not meet the SNI should not be
exported to prevent Indonesian exports being labeled as bad by
the international market," Zulhefy said.

Indonesia is the world's third-largest cocoa producer after
the Ivory Coast and Ghana. Indonesia supplies approximately 11
percent of the world's annual demand of 3 million tons. However,
most Indonesian cocoa commands only low prices on the overseas
market due to low quality, a problem that reduces the income of
local farmers.

Earlier this week, Director General of International Trade at
the Ministry of Industry and Trade Sudar SA said that the U.S.
government had agreed to provide assistance to boost the capacity
of local laboratories in carrying out quality inspection. Often,
Indonesian cocoa was rejected upon arrival at U.S. ports due to
its low quality, as it was contaminated by dirt or insects.

But Zulhefy said that the real problem lay in the lack of
seriousness in upholding the export regulations.

He pointed out as an example that customs officers often
signed the notification export of goods (PEBs) without checking
whether the quality analysis certificate from cocoa laboratories
had been attached.

"Usually the certificates come two or three days after the
ships carrying the goods have departed. The rule states that all
goods exported must have laboratory certificates first, before
the officers can sign the PEBs," said Zulhefy.

The rule was initially applied to prevent low-quality
commodity from being exported.

But most of the cocoa exporters have ignored the rule because
of the lack of government inspection, Zulhefy said.

"Askindo should be involved in checking quality, not just the
government and the surveyors," he said.

He added that another problem was the poor processing
technology used by local farmers.

He said that Indonesian cocoa had to be re-fumigated for four
to five days before being sold on to the market. He was referring
to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration rule.

"Our farmers still prepare the cocoa beans in a very
traditional way: They dry them under the sun and do not have the
sorting machines needed to remove all the unwanted debris," said
Zulhefy.

Zulhefy suspected that the exporters of local cocoa, of which
80 percent were foreign traders, deliberately made an issue of
the country's low-quality cocoa in a bid to drive down prices
offered to farmers.