Milk imports reduced

Milk imports reduced

JAKARTA (JP): The volume of milk that processing companies can
import has been reduced under a new quota set for the first half
of this year, an official said yesterday.

Director General of Animal Husbandry Erwin Soetirto said the
government set the quota at the equivalent of 1.7 liters of fresh
milk for each liter of milk from local farmers.

The old quota was one liter of imported milk for every two
liters of local milk.

Soetirto said the government hoped domestic milk production
would rise under the new ratio.

The import ratio for milk products was introduced in 1982 and
is reviewed each semester.

Ministry of Agriculture data shows Indonesian milk processing
firms bought 162,000 tons of fresh milk from domestic farmers in
the second half of last year and imported 350,000 tons.

Most of the imported milk came from New Zealand and Australia.

Indonesia exported 4,487 tons of sweet condensed milk and
powdered milk last year.

The government plans to replace the import-ratio policy with a
tariff, to conform with World Trade Organization rules, but has
not said when the change will be made. (jsk)