RI protests U.S. Bio-Terrorism Act

A'an Suryana, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Indonesian government has sent a letter to the U.S. government to protest against its controversial Bio-Terrorism Act, a senior official said on Wednesday.

Director general for industry cooperation and international trade at the ministry of industry and trade, Pos M. Hutabarat, said the act was seen as a serious threat to the country's exports.

The U.S. is one of Indonesia's largest export markets.

The Bio-Terrorism Act was initiated in 2002, following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the U.S.

The act permitted the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to respond quickly to any threat to the U.S. food supply.

Under the act, agriculture and food-related companies who want to export their goods to the U.S. must register themselves with the FDA. After registering, the exporters are also obliged to give prior notice to the FDA over the arrival of their goods, otherwise the products will not be allowed to enter the U.S. market and the exporters will bear the cost of storage or re- export.

Pos said that the Bio-Terrorism Act was not in violation of the terms set under the World Trade Organization (WTO) ruling, but nevertheless Indonesia appealed to the U.S. to review the policy, particularly as it would adversely affect developing countries, whose economies rely on exports.

He said that one of the requirements that would become a new burden for local exporters was the mandatory use of the Internet for export registration.

He said that this would create extra cost for exporters, many of whom were also not familiar with the Internet.

Pos said that many other countries had also lodged similar complaints with the U.S. government.

The U.S. is expected to soon notify the WTO about the new ruling, and within three months the international trade body would decide whether the Bio-Terrorism Act complies with WTO laws.

The U.S. government has targeted the act to become fully effective in November of this year.