Ship carrying corn from Argentina turned away

Ship carrying corn from Argentina turned away

JAKARTA (JP): The government has refused to allow the docking
of a freighter carrying some 68,897 tons of corn from Argentina
for fear of contamination from foot-and-mouth disease which has
broken out in the South American country.

The MV Captain Diamantis Pariues is the second freighter that
has been refused permission to dock by the Center for
Agricultural Quarantine at the Ministry of Agriculture. It is now
anchored in the Sunda Strait, some two miles out from Cigading
seaport in Merak, Banten.

Cigading port operator PT Krakatau Bandar Samudra's director
Fazwar Bujang said the freighter was carrying 68,897 tons of corn
of which 48,897 tons were to be unloaded at the seaport.

The freighter intended to unload the remaining corn at Tanjung
Perak Port in Surabaya, he said, refusing to name the importer of
the corn, Bisnis Indonesia reported.

Earlier this month, the freighter MV Agia Eirini carrying
38,000 tons of Argentinean corn imported by PT Cargill Indonesia
was also refused entry. It is now still anchored outside Tanjung
Priok Port in Jakarta.

The government in April issued a regulation banning the
importation of certain products from countries deemed
unsuccessful in controlling the spread of foot-and-mouth disease,
including Uruguay, Britain, the Netherlands, and Argentina.

The countries affected are being periodically evaluated and,
as of May, imports from France, Ireland, Peru, and Brazil were
permitted to enter the country again on a conditional basis,
Sofyan Sudrajat of the Ministry of Agriculture said.

If there are no new outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease in the
affected countries within 30 days of the last outbreak, then the
ministry will again review the ban, he said.

Commodities banned from being imported into Indonesia include
pigs and pig products; pets such as dogs, cats, and horses;
organic products such as meat, milk, embryos, animal fertilizers,
and eggs; feedstuffs; and used farm equipment.

Separately, the Minister of Industry and Trade, Luhut Binsar
Panjaitan, warned importers to carefully heed the kinds of
products banned from importation.

"Don't let it happen that (a product) is imported, and we
later discover that it originates from an affected country," he
said.

Luhut said that a team consisting of officials from his
ministry, the Ministry of Agriculture, associations and
agricultural experts, will begin on Monday to make an inventory
of all the commodities banned from entering the country. (tnt)