Govt plans tax on cacao exports

JAKARTA: The government plans to impose a 2 percent to 3 percent export tax on cacao in a bid to prevent large-scale exports of the commodity, Minister of Trade and Industry Rini Soewandi said on Friday.

At present the government does not impose such a tax on the commodity.

Cacao exports have been on the rise during the past couple of years amid higher prices overseas. According to the Central Statistics Agency, cacao exports in 2002 increased by 19.62 percent to 367,664 tons from 307,355 tons in 2001. The value of exports jumped by 88.45 percent to US$ 521.25 million from $ 276.60 million the previous year.

It the rising export trend continues, there are fears that local cacao processing industries will suffer from a lack of raw material as their own plantations supply only 40 percent of production capacity. -- JP