Indonesia intensifies fight against illegal imports

Jakarta: Indonesia is intensifying efforts to curb illegal imports and dumping practices to protect its domestic industrial sectors.

The move follows a flood of imported goods from neighbouring countries that have threatened local manufacturers and caused a slump in domestic industries, Xinhua news agency reported.

On Monday, Indonesia's Trade Ministry launched the Illegal Import Task Force which is responsible for inventorying problems related to goods subject to import procedures, examining business licences for specific imported goods, and monitoring products to ensure there are no legal violations.

On Wednesday, the task force began supervising importers and distributors of allegedly illegally imported products and inspecting warehouses where these goods are stored. The operation primarily targets textiles, electronics, footwear, beauty products, fisheries and ceramics sectors.

"We are focusing on supervising importers and distributors, including how they bring goods into Indonesia and the mechanisms at the ports," Minister of Trade, Zulkifli Hasan, said on Wednesday.

The push to eradicate illegal imports emerged after Indonesian authorities discovered discrepancies in data on imported goods from Indonesia Statistics (BPS) and the countries of origin. For instance, BPS data showed apparel imports from a country valued at $116 million, while the country of origin reported $356 million.

"This means that the incoming goods are two to three times larger than recorded. We have also found goods not officially recorded as imported, which we categorize as illegal. This has led to uncontrolled underground transactions," Hasan said.

He added that illegal imported products are often hard to detect because most sellers and traders do not know the goods they sell are illegally imported. In Tanah Abang market, Southeast Asia's largest textile wholesale center located in central Jakarta, around 90 per cent of the products traded are imported, according to the Tanah Abang Market Traders Association.

Dahler Syamsir, Chairman of the association, said there are no less than 8,500 shops in one block and 6,500 stalls in another. Although Minister Hasan assured that authorities would not target retailers or traders and that sellers should not worry, Syamsir said the sellers in the market were still panicked and confused.

"They are confused because they did not know if their products were illegal. One thing for sure, they buy the products legally. We do not even know what is considered illegal goods. Consequently, many shops have closed for fear of raids by the task force," Syamsir said.

Indonesian Minister of Industry Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita emphasized that the flood of illegal imported products is alarming and that if the government delays action, the local industry will struggle to restart and revive.