Govt extends rice import ban until July

Govt extends rice import ban until July

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The government has extended the ban on rice imports until July
as existing stocks are still adequate to meet the domestic demand
for the commodity, an official said on Sunday.

Director General of Foreign Trade Sudar SA explained that the
extension of the import ban was signed by Minister of Industry
and Trade Rini MS Suwandi on May 27 under Decree No.
9/MPP/1/2004.

"Ibu Rini signed the decree on the extension of the rice
imports until July because the minister of agriculture has
informed us that the national rice stocks are still adequate,"
Sudar said.

The decision to extend the rice import ban came as the country
is to hold a presidential election in July.

Based on an earlier schedule, the import ban was to be lifted
on June 1, Sudar said, hinting that the ban would possibly be
extended until August.

Based on the new decree, the decision to shorten or extend the
import ban is made, depending on domestic demand for the staple
upon recommendation from the Minister of Agriculture.

Sudar said that the government would closely monitor national
rice stocks to decide whether it was already time to lift the
ban.

"Under such a policy principally the government wants to
protect and help improve the welfare of rice farmers," he said.

The country normally imports around 2 million tons of rice per
year.

But some analysts have criticized the import ban policy which
would raise the price of rice at home and would eventually hurt
farmers as they are actually also net rice consumers.

The critics said government policies should aim at boosting
the productivity and efficiency of the agriculture sector in
order to help farmers compete with cheaper imported rice
products.

Another problem is that many farmers only have very small
plots of land.

A recent study showed rice farmers who owned less than 1.5
hectares of farming land, only received 28 percent of their
household income from farming the crop.