JAKARTA (TheInsiderStories) - The Indonesian government will start importing meat from India, Mexico and other countries after President Joko Widodo signed a Government Regulation (PP) on import meat from certain countries on March 8, said Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Darmin Nasution. He added, the import of the meat will be free from foot and mouth disease as feared.
According to Nasution, imports are needed to drive down the price of beef. Currently, he said, the meat prices are in the range of Rp 110,000 - Rp116,000 per kilogram.
Previously, Agriculture Minister Amran Sulaiman said this year Indonesia needs 675,000 tons of meat or equal to 3.6 million of cattle. Currently, the country only produces 442,000 tons of meat and needs to import to fill the shortfalls from other countries.
Based on the Law No.41 of 2014 on Animal Husbandry and Animal Health, Indonesia is changing the importation of cattle rule to be no longer on country-based system but on zone-based scheme.
Pursuant to article 36C, ruminant livestock breeders can be imported from countries or zones within a country. Only, in article 36D, ruminant livestock breeders coming from the zone should be placed in quarantine island within a certain period.
The Law 41/2014, in particular article 36E, also mentioned that in certain cases, imports may be allowed from a country zone for livestock products as well as meat. It seems that the article 36E will be implemented based on the government economic policy package IX. (*)