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)