RI's plan to impose flour duties dropped

RI's plan to impose flour duties dropped

Reuters, Jakarta

Indonesia has decided to drop its plan to impose anti-dumping
duties on wheat flour in order to protect consumers from an
increase in prices, a senior official of the trade and industry
ministry said on Thursday.

The anti-dumping duties of up to 35 percent on wheat flour
imports from the European Union, Australia and the United Arab
Emirates were proposed by the country's anti-dumping committee
(KADI) in order to protect local flour mills and was expected to
be imposed soon.

"The trade and industry minister had asked the finance
minister to drop the plan until an indefinite time and the
finance minister has agreed," Hatanto Reksodipoetro, director
General of international trade cooperation, told reporters.

"We have observed the impact of the duties to the consumers
and producers, and now we are taking the consumers' side."

The plan to impose anti-dumping duties has drawn objections
from the country's anti-monopoly commission (KKPU), which said it
would create a more dominant position for Indonesia's largest
flour miller PT Bogasari Flour Mills.

Indonesia allowed private traders to import wheat for the
first time in decades in 1998 after reaching an agreement with
the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on trade liberalization.

Before this, state commodity regulator Bulog imported wheat
and paid Bogasari to process it for a fee.