New Regulation Emerges: Export Permits Can Be Revoked or Suspended, Including Rice and Fish
Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia - Minister of Trade Budi Santoso has issued a new regulation on exports, namely Ministry of Trade Regulation (Permendag) No. 12/2026 on the Fifth Amendment to Ministry of Trade Regulation No. 23 of 2023 on Export Policies and Regulations.
This Permendag was stipulated by Minister Budi on 28 April 2026 and comes into effect upon its promulgation on 29 April 2026.
Attachment I of Permendag No. 12/2026 appears to contain a long list of products included in the Export Business Licensing list.
Starting from swiftlet nests, rice—both Export Approvals for Perum Bulog, as well as state-owned enterprises/regional state-owned enterprises/private entities, or grants—up to a series of Export Approvals for animals and animal products, fish-fish products-sea products, plants-timber-wood products, biodiesel, starch, up to mining products.
Meanwhile, Attachments IV and V contain lists of Goods Excluded from Export and Not for Business Activities. This includes rice for research, border-crossing goods, up to rice carried by passengers and/or crew of transport means.
It is stated in the Considering section letter (a), “to support the fulfilment of certain goods needs domestically for national interests, it is necessary to adjust export policies and regulations as regulated in Ministry of Trade Regulation No. 23 of 2023 on Export Policies and Regulations as has been amended several times, the latest with Ministry of Trade Regulation No. 5 of 2026 on the Fourth Amendment to Ministry of Trade Regulation No. 23 of 2023 on Export Policies and Regulations.”
In line with Domestic Needs
In his statement, Minister Budi explained that the main points of this regulatory amendment include the authority to suspend issuance, freeze, and revoke Export Business Licences, as well as suspend verification or technical tracing services that are non-administrative sanctions.
“This amendment strengthens the government’s control to act quickly in safeguarding national interests, public interests, the smooth running of government programmes, and the implementation of presidential directives. We want to ensure that export activities continue to run in line with meeting domestic needs,” he said on Monday (4/5/2026).
Previously, he added, export provisions were regulated in Permendag No. 23/2023 as last amended by Permendag No. 5/2026. However, he continued, those regulations had a limited scope because they only regulated administrative sanctions for non-compliance by exporters.
“The issuance of Permendag No. 12 of 2026 is a strategic effort by the government to support the fulfilment of certain goods needs domestically for national interests,” said Budi.
“With the issuance of Permendag No. 12 of 2026, the initiation of suspension, freezing, up to revocation of licensing is not only the authority of the Minister of Trade, but can also be proposed by related ministries or agencies,” he explained.
That decision, Budi clarified, will then be discussed through a Coordination Meeting at the level of the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs or the Coordinating Ministry for Food according to its authority.
“This is a manifestation of strengthening synergy between agencies in decision-making related to export policies,” said Budi.
Furthermore, the coordination meeting decision will be formalised in a Letter from the Director General of Foreign Trade on behalf of the Minister of Trade, which is conveyed electronically through the INATRADE system and forwarded to the Indonesia National Single Window (SINW) system.
“To ensure transparency, exporters will also receive automatic electronic notifications regarding their permit status,” said Budi.
In the same statement, the Director General of Foreign Trade of the Ministry of Trade (Kemendag), Tommy Andana, conveyed that Permendag No. 12/2026 is designed by applying the principle of flexibility.
“This policy of suspension, freezing, up to revocation is dynamic in nature. We have also regulated the mechanism for reactivating frozen permits or cancelling suspension of services,” said Tommy.
“To ensure the smooth flow of goods, there are transitional provisions,” he added.
These transitional provisions, he explained, will regulate goods that have obtained the registration number and date of the Export Customs Notification (PEB) before the effective date of the suspension, freezing, or revocation decision, which will still be served for their export process by the Directorate General of Customs and Excise.
“The preparation of this regulation has gone through an inter-ministerial and agency coordination process, including input from the business world,” said Tommy.
“We hope that exporters can continue to be strategic partners of the government in maintaining Indonesia’s trade performance while still supporting national interests,” he added.
Kemendag Socialises Permendag No. 12/2026
It is stated that on Thursday (30/4/2026), Kemendag held an online socialisation of Permendag No. 12/2026, with Muhammad Rivai Abbas, Director of Industrial and Mining Product Exports of Kemendag, as the speaker.
Rivai outlined the main points of the changes in Permendag No. 12/2026. He explained that previously, Permendag No. 23/2023 had not regulated the mechanism for suspension or freezing of licensing outside of administrative sanctions for exporter non-compliance. Through this amendment, the government adds an export control mechanism through suspension of issuance services, freezing, and revocation of company licensing.
“This export control can be initiated by the Minister of Trade or based on proposals or recommendations from related ministries and agencies, which are then discussed in a coordination meeting at the coordinating ministry according to its authority,” Rivai explained.
Meanwhile, Ojak Simon Manurung, Secretary of the Directorate General of Foreign Trade of Kemendag, added that Permendag No. 12/2026 also includes regulations on the mechanism for reactivating business licences.
Ojak stated that although the amendment