VP opposes lifting ban on U.S. chicken imports

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.