Govt lifts ban on Dutch meat

Govt lifts ban on Dutch meat

JAKARTA (Dow Jones): The Indonesian government has lifted the import ban imposed against Dutch meat, dairy products and feedgrains as the Netherlands is now considered a foot-and-mouth disease free area, a senior government official said Friday.

In a press briefing, Sofyan Sudardjad, director general for livestock services, said Indonesia decided to allow the importation of Dutch products because the World Health Organization and the World Organization for Animal Health have certified that the Netherlands was able to control foot-and-mouth disease outbreaks.

But Sudardjad said Indonesia maintains the import ban against products from England, Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil. This is due to reported foot-and-mouth disease outbreaks in these countries.

The Indonesian Agriculture Ministry issued April 20 a ban against meat, grains and dairy products imported from several European and South American countries due to outbreak of the foot-and-mouth disease in those countries.