RI chicken boycott angers U.S. poultry producers

RI chicken boycott angers U.S. poultry producers

Associated Press, Jakarta

Neil Carey knew it wouldn't be easy selling chicken to a Muslim country like Indonesia. He had to fly in two imams to his Missouri slaughterhouse to certify that the chickens were halal, or permissible to eat under Islamic law.

He never expected his efforts to land his company in the middle of a trade fight between the U.S. and Indonesia - a battle sparked by Indonesia's decision to ban U.S. poultry two years ago.

Since then, Carey has seen his Indonesian importer tossed in jail and tons of his company's chicken impounded.

"It's frustrating," said Carey, director of international sales for Simmons Foods Inc. of Siloam Springs, Arkansas. "You never like to lose a market."

Publicly, the Indonesian government won't speak about the ban, although it has said it would prevent non-halal chicken from getting into the country.

"We are in the process of settling this," Agriculture Minister Bungaran Saragih said recently. "It is no good to discuss this in the public. It will only make it more difficult to come to a win- win solution."

Indonesia isn't alone in its rejection of U.S. poultry. Since 1990, U.S. chicken exports have tripled and with that has come squawks of protest from countries around the world.

South Africa banned U.S. chicken imports, accusing the U.S. of undercutting local producers. Russia slapped a temporary ban on U.S. chicken this year amid allegations that U.S. chicken plants were unsanitary. And a federation of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations poultry producers met recently to discuss ways to protect their local markets from imports.

"Unfortunately, it's the price of success," said Toby Moore, spokesman for the USA Poultry and Egg Export Council in Atlanta.

"A lot of countries view imports of American poultry as an easy target to make their own political statements," he said.

Carey - whose company exports chicken to about 10 Muslim countries - thought he was doing everything right when he began sending chicken parts to Indonesia in 1999. Two imams spent a week at his company's plant in Southwest City, Missouri, as the Indonesia-bound birds were slaughtered.

"I was going through hoops to get it done," Carey said. "That is what my company does. Our customer expected us to do it and we do it."

Within months, Simmons was shipping up to 300 tons of chicken parts a month to Indonesia. But by the summer 2000, Indonesian banned all U.S. chicken imports.

U.S. exporters said the ruling ignored a U.S. halal certification process, which included documentation from a U.S. Islamic association showing the chickens were halal.

Simmons was hit hard by the ban. Thirteen of its containers were impounded by customs in October 2000. Its importer, Tobeng Koesnosdihardjo, was tossed in jail for 39 days on allegations that he violated Indonesia's food laws.

"I don't know why they put me in jail," said Koesnosdihardjo, who has been released from jail pending the outcome of his court case. "I was very confused...This government is corrupt. Everything is money, money, money."

The U.S. took up the ban with Indonesian President Megawati Soekarnoputri when she visited Washington in September 2001. It has twice brought up the ban in the last year, including during a visit to Jakarta by U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick. But to no avail.

Moore, the poultry council spokesman, says the ban has more to do with political pressure from local poultry cartels than religion.

"There is no question that the majority of poultry producers in Indonesia want to keep U.S. products out," he said.

Indonesia has repeatedly suggested that foreign imports were killing off the local poultry market.

Last year, Indonesia proposed ending the ban in exchange for conditions that including a demand that U.S. chickens be slaughtered by hand and that Indonesian officials be allowed to supervise the slaughters. The proposal was deemed unrealistic by U.S. officials.

Back in Arkansas, Carey isn't waiting for a breakthrough. He knows these disputes can drag on for years. His only option, he said, is finding new markets for his birds.

"I've got chickens to sell," he said. "But we'd love to see Indonesia open back up."