VP opposes lifting ban on U.S. chicken imports

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A day after a joint government team announced it agreed with opening the market to U.S. chicken legs, Vice President Hamzah Haz said he was against the policy if it damaged local poultry farmers.

Hamzah said that before deciding to drop the ban on imported chicken legs, the local poultry industry must first be taken into account.

"We better think of our situation here. If it (imported chicken) harms many of our farmers than we should reconsider," Hamzah was quoted as saying by Antara news agency on Tuesday.

His statement added to the growing controversy over whether Indonesia should import U.S. chicken legs, which were sold here cheaper than local chicken legs.

A senior government official said on Monday an interministerial team had agreed to allow the import of the chicken legs, providing they come certificated as halal, or allowable under Islamic law.

The agreement has yet to be endorsed by the team's respective ministers

Minister of Industry and Trade Rini Soewandi already has come out in favor of the imported chicken legs, however Minister of Agriculture Bungaran Saragih has argued allowing the imports would ruin local poultry farmers.

Rini said that under World Trade Organization rulings, Indonesia cannot simply ban chicken leg imports but tariff barriers could still be imposed on them.

Hamzah played down Rini's apparent insistence on the import of the chicken parts.

"(Rini's) position cannot be absolute, there is always something that can be discussed," he said.

In just two years, local poultry farmers have seen chicken imports grow by 35 fold, from only 347 tons in 1998 to 14,017 tons in 2000, according to data from the Central Bureau of Statistics.

The price of the imports also declined, which, despite the rupiah's sharp depreciation during this period, added to their strong sales.

In May 2001, the Ministry of Agriculture moved to ban imported chicken legs.

But what then began as a mere case of smuggling with the discovery of U.S. chicken legs here last February, has turned into a high-level diplomatic affair.

U.S. trade officials reportedly offered to drop an import ban on Indonesian shrimp in exchange for Indonesia doing the same for its chicken legs.