The removal of soybean import duty announced by the government recently will be a temporary measure to stabilize the price in the local market, a senior trade official said.
“We should really boost local production. If our production meets target, we should not worry about importation and import duty anymore,” Trade Minister Gita Wirjawan said on Friday.
The Trade Ministry is waiting for a Finance Minister regulation to implement the measure.
Meanwhile, on the same day, Trade Ministry director general for domestic trade Srie Agustina said that her office had issued a new regulation on soybean price safeguard and soybean distribution for tempeh (fermented soybean cake) and tofu makers.
“The Trade Minister’s new regulation No.45/2013 eliminates import quota and registered importers, thereby anyone may import,” she told a press briefing.
According to Srie, both the private sector and the State Logistics Agency (Bulog) will now use special importer identification numbers, instead of using licenses as registered importers.
Under the new rule, Bulog is given a key role in price stabilization by absorbing soybean from local farmers when the market price falls below its procurement price.
Bulog will sell 25,841 tons of local soybean, which it bought from 13 provinces, to tofu and tempe makers to help stabilize prices. Bulog’s move to buy local soybean in that amount will continue until the end of the year. The government has also granted a permit for the agency to bring in 100,000 tons of soybean expected to enter the country before the year-end.
Agriculture Minister Suswono said that the removal of soybean import duty would not hurt farmers nor would it threaten domestic production, saying that the surging prices also benefit farmers.
“By scrapping the import duty, we can save five percent or around Rp 400 per kilogram. It will surely reduce the burden to consumers and at the same time, it is still attractive enough for farmers,” he told reporters on Friday.
Suswono said that the skyrocketing price was caused by increase in the price of the commodity in the international market. “When it returns to normal, the government will again impose the import duty,” he added.
The government removed the import duty of soybean temporarily in July 2012 when the price of the commodity rose to Rp 8,000 per kilogram from about Rp 5,000 earlier that year, leading to a three-day strike staged by local tempe and tofu producers.
The producers staged another protest last week after the price of soybean increased by more than 50 percent in the past month to Rp 13,000 per kilogram, which the government partially attributed to the weakening rupiah against
the dollar.
Indonesia is a big consumer of soybean, the raw material for tempe and tofu, which are very popular food items among the people. However, as local production cannot meet demand, it depends significantly on imports, particularly from the US, which this year might see a decline in harvest.
Source:- thejakartapost.com
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