Indonesia a net importer of liquor

JAKARTA (JP): The imbalance in Indonesia's trade of alcoholic drinks exceeded US$13 million last year, Anang Lukmana, the agro- industry director general at the Ministry of Industry, said over the weekend.

"We imported US$15.6 million and exported only $2.2 million worth of alcoholic drinks last year." Anang said at the inauguration of the Association of the Indonesian Alcoholic Drinks Producers (ASPROMIA) here, Saturday.

Anang said the alcohol oversupply in the country year was caused mainly by the inability of domestic producers to export a big portion of their liquor.

He said the estimated 158 alcoholic drink makers produced 88.46 million liters last year, but only 3.5 percent of the total was exported.

"We have to export more than sell on the domestic market," Anang said, adding that liquor imports should be curbed.

The Jakarta Military Command, in cooperation with the police, conducted "Operations Cleansing" against illegal sales of alcoholic drinks throughout the city which were blamed partly for the rise in criminal acts.

The import duty on alcoholic drinks is 40 percent. In addition, liquor is also are subject to the 10 percent value added tax and 30 percent luxury sales tax.

He said the government found it difficult to control the quality and volume of liquor produced by the 158 manufacturers because most of them are small-scale, cottage industries.

Anang also suspects that many liquor makers are operating without licenses.

The director general said half of the 158 producers have not renewed their licenses in accordance with the 1992 circular of the directorate general of food and drugs supervision, the Ministry of Health.

Chairman of ASPROMIA, Abdul Rasyid Mursid, said the ASPROMIA was established to help the government implement regulations on alcoholic beverage production and distribution.

The chairman said the association currently has 82 members nationwide. (02)