Losses germinate as customs block entry of garlic seeds

Losses germinate as customs block entry of garlic seeds

JAKARTA (JP): An importer failed again yesterday to clear his garlic seeds, which the customs office has been holding for 43 days, through Tanjung Priok port, even though he was able to show legal documents for their importation.

Chairman of the Indonesian Importers Association Amirudin Saud announced yesterday that the importation of some 114 tons of garlic seeds from China worth US$105,042 by PT Gemari Agrindo had been approved by the Ministry of Agriculture's Directorate General of Food Crops and Horticulture.

"The delay has cost the importer more than Rp 100 million (US$43,000) in storage at the port, while the seeds are deteriorating," said Amirudin.

The ministry's permit, copies of which were made available to the press, stated that the total garlic seeds to be imported from Shandong, China, was 870 tons.

Amirudin said that the importer had imported such seeds three times through the Jakarta seaport and faced no difficulties at the customs office.

However, he said, the port authority intercepted the fourth shipment, which was kept at a port warehouse, when it was about to be loaded into trucks on Feb. 17.

Director General of Customs and Excise Suhardjo announced on Friday that the cargo was detained because it contained pests.

But Amirudin yesterday distributed copies of certificates from the agricultural quarantine office which declared that the seeds were free of any pests.

According to the chief of the anti-smuggling section of the Directorate General of Customs and Excise, Thomas Sugijata, the procedure to import the garlic should have been approved by the National Logistics Agency (Bulog), not the Ministry of Agriculture, and is subject to 10 percent import duty. (kod)