RI lamp makers ask Egypt to waive tariff hike plan

JAKARTA (JP): The Association of Indonesian Electric Lamp Producers (Aperlindo) has appealed to the Egyptian government to refrain from imposing a 110 percent import surcharge on lamps.

Aperlindo chairman John Manoppo said on Friday that the call to impose the hefty surcharge was groundless.

He said Indonesia's lamp exports to Egypt decreased to about US$1 million this year, from $2 million in 1997.

The Egyptian-based El Nasr Electric and Electronic Apparatus Company (NEESAE) had filed a complaint with the Egyptian International Trade Policies Department in response to decreasing lamp sales which it blamed on imports.

"The Egyptian manufacturer cannot blame Indonesian products for ruining its market share," Manoppo said.

He said NEESAE had not provided data on how much the company had lost in terms of its market share, sales and employment because of imports.

Manoppo said if the surcharge plan was imposed, Indonesia would not be able to compete in the Egyptian market.

Other major lamp exporters facing the surcharge are China, Thailand, Poland and Hungary.

The Egyptian government has notified the World Trade Organization (WTO) of its plan to impose the surcharge, which would gradually decline to 50 percent after four years.

Sinar Angkasa, one of two Indonesian companies which exports lamps to Egypt, held a hearing last Saturday with Egyptian authorities to discuss the plan.

Manoppo said Aperlindo would seek assistance from the Indonesian Embassy in Cairo. "We plan to approach this on a government-to-government basis."

In a letter to the Egyptian authorities, a copy of which was made available to The Jakarta Post, Sinar Angkasa's export manager Soendow R. Tjandra said the surcharge would punish Egyptian consumers with higher prices.

Manoppo said as Egypt's sole lamp producer, NEESAE was only able to produce seven million lamps per year, while domestic demand had reached 19 million.

He argued that NEESAE's market share had declined because of production inefficiency, and not because the country had been swamped by imports. (03)