Trade Minister to evaluate garlic import quota based on market conditions

Trade Minister Budi Santoso stated that the government will evaluate the association’s proposal for an additional garlic import quota according to market conditions and mechanisms. “Oh yes, we will look at it first, we will evaluate it first. Garlic is included in the commodity balance. The commodity balance can be evaluated at any time or every three months. We will see first, when the price remains stable or when the price rises or when the price falls, it can be evaluated later,” Budi said when met at Trans Studio Mal Cibubur on Thursday. According to Budi, his ministry is not ruling out the possibility of the importers’ association’s proposal regarding the addition of the import quota. “The evaluation can be done at any time. An evaluation certainly looks at current developments. So everything will be considered based on conditions on the ground, evaluated at any time,” said Budi. In addition, Budi mentioned that the government is also regulating the garlic import mechanism in stages to maintain price stability in the market. The current import pattern, Budi said, is a strategy to avoid price spikes from the main supplier country, China. “So far, imports together with the importers have been carried out periodically. Why? If we request everything at once, China can raise the price. When demand is high, and we order a lot at once, they can increase the price there. That’s why it is regulated so that domestic prices remain stable,” Budi explained. Furthermore, Budi acknowledged that the exchange rate factor has its own impact, but it cannot be conflated with the issue of import regulation or the high price of garlic due to the weakening of the rupiah. “That is a different matter. From the import regulation side, the mechanism is indeed carried out like that every year,” said Budi. Budi hopes the applied import mechanism can maintain a balance between supply availability and domestic garlic price stability, while also anticipating price fluctuations that could be triggered by changes in international market demand or the rupiah exchange rate. Previously, the Ministry of Trade stated that the national garlic price development in March 2026 began to show a downward trend compared to the previous month, although several regions still recorded prices above the Sales Reference Price. The Director of Domestic Market Development at the Directorate General of Domestic Trade, Nawandaru Dwi Putra, said the national average price for grade A garlic was Rp39,143 per kilogram, while the reference price is Rp38,000 per kilogram. However, specifically for non-Maluku and Papua regions, garlic was recorded at Rp37,931 per kilogram.