Smuggled imported rice and farmers' fate

Smuggled imported rice and farmers' fate

Early April, the State Logistics Agency (Bulog) chief,
Widjanarko Puspoyo, revealed surprising data on imported rice
entering Indonesia. The Bulog chief told reporters that at least
800,000 tons of imported rice or about 60 percent of the total
rice imported into Indonesia during the year were not subject to
import duties and taxes. This imported rice was allegedly
smuggled into Indonesia.

The recent increase in the volume of imported rice has raised
questions, moreover how much rice is actually smuggled into the
country. Doesn't the government pay attention to the fate of
farmers in this country any more? This question is appropriate to
raise as the importation of rice in big quantities (including
smuggled rice) means the price of the farmers' rice harvests in
this country drop. Further, imported rice frequently enters
Indonesia during harvesting. The fate of farmers is becoming
worse.

In this respect, the statement made by the general chairman of
the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin), as
published by the daily newspaper Suara Karya on April 8,
seemingly needs to be pondered over by all officials dealing with
imported rice. According to Aburizal Bakrie, continuous imported
rice has caused a great concern as the quantities have exceeded
the real national demand. The policy has been blamed on
impoverishing farmers nationally. One of the policies effective
in improving national rice production will be to increase the
standard price of unhusked rice. We hope that the advice of the
Kadin general chairman is acted on.

-- Suara Karya, Jakarta