Govt plans to curb fruit import

Govt plans to curb fruit import

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Ministry of Agriculture is drafting a policy that would
restrict the importation of several fruit varieties in a bid to
protect local farmers, but the move may trigger reciprocal
measures by affected countries and eventually harm Indonesian
exports.

The ministry's Horticulture Production Director General
Sumarno said on Thursday that the policy was also aimed at
preventing the spread of fruit flies in the country.

"We are now drafting a regulation on import restrictions in
the form of ministerial decree. It is expected to be signed (by
the minister) soon," Sumarno was quoted by Antara as saying.

He said under the planned decree, the ministry wanted to limit
the importation of 28 fruits, including avocados, star fruits,
bananas, durians, oranges and mangoes.

He said the importation of the fruits would be restricted
during harvesttime to protect local fruit farmers, who have
suffered from the influx of higher quality and relatively cheaper
imported fruits.

Sumarno said the ministry had long proposed an increase of
import duties on fruits to 50 percent, from the current 5
percent, as an effort to protect local farmers. "But the proposal
has not been approved."

A special team of officials from relevant ministries possess
the authority to decide on the tariff policy for imported fruits.

Sumarno said the planned restriction policy would also
regulate sanitation and hygiene for imported fruits.

"This requirement is important, so Indonesia will not turn
into a dumping place for rejected fruit products," he said.

He added that the planned policy would also ban fruit imports
from 100 countries to prevent the entry of fruit flies. He did
not elaborate.

Sumarno said at least 30 fruit fly species existed that could
harm the country's fruit plantations.

Farmers have long complained about the massive importation of
imported fruits, particularly from the U.S., China, Thailand and
Australia.

Reports have said that farmers in East Java's Batu Malang, for
example, had gradually closed their apple plantation, as they had
lost the battle against apples from overseas. The apple
production in the area has dropped to 1.25 tons per hectare (ha),
from the previous 5 tons per ha, as farmers shifted to other
horticultural products.

The volume of imported fruits surged after the government cut
the import tariff for fruits during the late 1990s to around 5
percent, in keeping with the global liberalization drive, and
opened up the service sector, allowing giant foreign hypermarket
operators set up shop here.

According to the ministry's data, the volume of imported
fruits jumped from 72,660 tons in 1994 to 247,366 tons in 2002,
and the figure continues to rise.

Indonesia is seen as a lucrative market among fruit exporter
countries.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture, for instance, issued a
report earlier this year saying that despite the crisis,
Indonesia's demand for imported fruits had continued to increase,
thus making it an important market. The report also said China
has been aggressive in exporting fruits to Indonesia.

The planned import restriction policy, which basically imposes
non-tariff barriers, could prompt fruit exporting countries such
as the U.S. and China to retaliate in like manner. The two
countries are key markets for Indonesia's non-oil and gas export
products, and could thus pose a serious threat to the
government's efforts to boost exports.