Govt plans tax on cacao exports

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