Govt plans to limit shrimp imports

Zakki P. Hakim, Jakarta

The Ministry of Industry and Trade unveiled proposals on Thursday to tighten up the rules on shrimp imports, particularly from countries affected by U.S. antidumping tariffs.

The proposed measures will focus on restricting imports to those undertaken by shrimp processing companies, and requiring the importers to have certificates of origin for the imported shrimp, according to a document presented during a seminar on the issue.

But senior ministry official Faiz Achmad said that a final decision had yet to be made.

The Indonesian Fishing Industry Association (Gappindo) recently complained of rising shrimp imports from countries like China, Thailand, India and Vietnam -- all of which have been affected by the U.S. antidumping tariffs. Following the imposition of tariffs, shrimp from these countries have been exported to the U.S. through Indonesia as a transshipment point.

But there are now growing fears that if this continues, the U.S. will also impose antidumping tariffs on all shrimp coming from Indonesia, something that would also hurt genuine local exporters. If this were to happen, the local shrimp market would suffer from oversupply, which in turn would put pressure on prices and hurt local shrimp farmers.

Minister of Fisheries and Maritime Affairs Rokhmin Dahuri, who had earlier proposed a temporary ban on imports starting next year as farmers start their harvests, said he would support the Ministry of Industry and Trade proposal.

But he said that any reexport of imported shrimp must follow further processing here so as to provide added value.

According to figures from the Ministry of Industry and Trade, last year Indonesia imported 2,621 tons of shrimp -- amounting to only 0.55 percent of the country's total production of 478,847 tons.

But imports have started to accelerate this year, with the import volume already having reached 2,600 tons in the first half of the year, according to the ministry data.

Meanwhile, exports to the U.S. in the first four months of this year reached 10,202 tons, compared to an average annual export volume of 17,546 tons.

Shrimp is Indonesia's top export commodity in the agricultural sector, producing earnings of US$2.45 billion and $2.59 billion in 2001 and 2002 respectively.