Govt to review authority of Tariff Team
<p>Govt to review authority of Tariff Team </p><p>Zakki P. Hakim
The Jakarta Post/Jakarta</p><p>The government is reviewing which ministry should have the
authority to determine trade-related fiscal policies such as
import duties in an effort to maximize the use of the "injury
clause" to curtail the excesses of trade liberalization, a senior
official said.</p><p>Minister of Trade Mari Elka Pangestu said that the government
realized that there should be a better coordination between
ministries, to enable the country to continue to embrace free
trade and at the same time protect some of its industries and
jobs against imports by using the injury clause permitted under
the World Trade Organization rulings.</p><p>"We want to fix this. But the question remains, who should
hold the authority, is it the Minister of Finance or the
Coordinating Minister for Economy," Mari told the press last
week.</p><p>Conceptually, the Coordinating Minister for Economy should
have the final say, but the ministry which has the capacity to
analyze a certain issue should be taken into consideration, said
Mari.</p><p>"For trade-related issues, the Ministry of Trade should have
the right to analyze them and come up with a conclusion," she
said. </p><p>However, she suggested that the country might want to adopt
the practices of other countries, such as Australia, where it had
a Productivity Commission which conducted an objective analysis
and came up with suggestions.</p><p>The commission then consulted with legislators on the
advantages and the disadvantages of a trade measure before
passing a final decision.</p><p>"We might be moving toward that kind of procedure. But it
requires further discussion with fellow Cabinet members, so in
the future we could deliver a consistent policy for the sake of
national interests," she said.</p><p>Indonesia can continue to embrace free trade and at the same
time protect some of its industries -- and jobs too -- against
imports by using the injury clause permitted under the WTO
rulings. It is something that Indonesia had not applied optimally
in the past while other countries, including the U.S. and Europe,
invoked them freely in the name of protecting national interests. </p><p>Industry players as well as government trade officials have
long complained that the injury clauses could not be applied
effectively due to problems at the Ministry of Finance.</p><p>The government has set up the Indonesian Anti-Dumping
Committee (KADI) and Indonesian Trade Safeguard Committee (KPPI)
that would determine which sectors should be protected using
temporary tariff barriers upon inputs from injured domestic
industries, which have suffered from the massive inflow of
cheaper imported products.</p><p>The two committees then proposed the tariff measure to an
inter-ministerial Tariff Team, which would have the final say
whether or not to impose a higher entry duty.</p><p>The team, now chaired by the Minister of Finance, however,
most of the time found it necessary to re-analyze recommendations
from the two committees, which creates further delay, while the
industry cries foul over unfair competition from cheap imports.</p><p>In several cases, the team took more than a year to finally
give the decision, which sometimes meant it was too late, said a
trade official who spoke on the condition of anonymity.</p><p>He said that Minister of Trade should hold the chairmanship,
as the role of the Tariff Team was crucial for the country in
countering the excesses of trade liberalization.</p><p>According to him, during the early days of WTO in the mid
1990s it was minister of industry and trade Tungky Ariwibowo who
chaired the team.</p><p>Separately, the Ministry's director general for international
cooperation Pos M. Hutabarat said that the two independent
committees were not effective considering their weak legal basis.</p><p>The KADI was based on the Customs Law while KPPI was based
only on a presidential decree on trade safeguard measures, he
said.</p><p>The ministry was currently working on a trade bill, which
would give a stronger legal basis for the two committees, said
Pos.</p>
The Jakarta Post/Jakarta</p><p>The government is reviewing which ministry should have the
authority to determine trade-related fiscal policies such as
import duties in an effort to maximize the use of the "injury
clause" to curtail the excesses of trade liberalization, a senior
official said.</p><p>Minister of Trade Mari Elka Pangestu said that the government
realized that there should be a better coordination between
ministries, to enable the country to continue to embrace free
trade and at the same time protect some of its industries and
jobs against imports by using the injury clause permitted under
the World Trade Organization rulings.</p><p>"We want to fix this. But the question remains, who should
hold the authority, is it the Minister of Finance or the
Coordinating Minister for Economy," Mari told the press last
week.</p><p>Conceptually, the Coordinating Minister for Economy should
have the final say, but the ministry which has the capacity to
analyze a certain issue should be taken into consideration, said
Mari.</p><p>"For trade-related issues, the Ministry of Trade should have
the right to analyze them and come up with a conclusion," she
said. </p><p>However, she suggested that the country might want to adopt
the practices of other countries, such as Australia, where it had
a Productivity Commission which conducted an objective analysis
and came up with suggestions.</p><p>The commission then consulted with legislators on the
advantages and the disadvantages of a trade measure before
passing a final decision.</p><p>"We might be moving toward that kind of procedure. But it
requires further discussion with fellow Cabinet members, so in
the future we could deliver a consistent policy for the sake of
national interests," she said.</p><p>Indonesia can continue to embrace free trade and at the same
time protect some of its industries -- and jobs too -- against
imports by using the injury clause permitted under the WTO
rulings. It is something that Indonesia had not applied optimally
in the past while other countries, including the U.S. and Europe,
invoked them freely in the name of protecting national interests. </p><p>Industry players as well as government trade officials have
long complained that the injury clauses could not be applied
effectively due to problems at the Ministry of Finance.</p><p>The government has set up the Indonesian Anti-Dumping
Committee (KADI) and Indonesian Trade Safeguard Committee (KPPI)
that would determine which sectors should be protected using
temporary tariff barriers upon inputs from injured domestic
industries, which have suffered from the massive inflow of
cheaper imported products.</p><p>The two committees then proposed the tariff measure to an
inter-ministerial Tariff Team, which would have the final say
whether or not to impose a higher entry duty.</p><p>The team, now chaired by the Minister of Finance, however,
most of the time found it necessary to re-analyze recommendations
from the two committees, which creates further delay, while the
industry cries foul over unfair competition from cheap imports.</p><p>In several cases, the team took more than a year to finally
give the decision, which sometimes meant it was too late, said a
trade official who spoke on the condition of anonymity.</p><p>He said that Minister of Trade should hold the chairmanship,
as the role of the Tariff Team was crucial for the country in
countering the excesses of trade liberalization.</p><p>According to him, during the early days of WTO in the mid
1990s it was minister of industry and trade Tungky Ariwibowo who
chaired the team.</p><p>Separately, the Ministry's director general for international
cooperation Pos M. Hutabarat said that the two independent
committees were not effective considering their weak legal basis.</p><p>The KADI was based on the Customs Law while KPPI was based
only on a presidential decree on trade safeguard measures, he
said.</p><p>The ministry was currently working on a trade bill, which
would give a stronger legal basis for the two committees, said
Pos.</p>