English
Indonesia: Illegal Food Import in Border Areas Reaches 2,500 Tons
The Agriculture Ministry’s Quarantine Agency recorded that the volume of illegally imported food in border areas reached approximately 2.5 million kilograms or 2,500 tons in 2016.
The agency’s chief, Banun Harpini, said that food items that were imported illegally include 1.66 million kilograms of shallots, 723,700 kilograms of rice, 160,269 kilograms of beef, 3,100 kilograms duck meat, and other crops; with an economic value of Rp96 billion.
The agency also recorded 102 attempts of illegal shallot imports, 9 attempts of illegal rice imports, and 14 attempts for illegal beef imports.
“What needs attention is illegal import of shallots, as the goods entered via a number of Sumatra’s east coasts, such as Tanjung Balai Asahan, Belawan, Medan, Tanjung Balai Karimun, and Banda Aceh,” Banun said in a press conference held at the Agriculture Ministry’s complex in Jakarta, Friday, December 16.
Plenty of the goods from these illegal import activities, he said, entered Jakarta’s markets as well through some 200 small ports that are not thoroughly monitored by quarantine officers or the security forces.
The Quarantine Agency recorded that 5,068 times of their quarantine measures in 2016 were done in cooperation with the TNI, Polri, and customs institution. This is an increase of 56.86 percent compared to 2015’s 3,231 collaborations.
From the 5,068 quarantine acts, the agencies recorded 2,374 confiscations, 1,214 rejections, and 1,480 destructions.
Banun said that joint-supervisions are being improved in various places along the east coast of Sumatra and border areas in Kalimantan, Papua, and East Nusa Tenggara.
“This indicates that Indonesia is still a market, and a place to smuggle agricultural products that don’t meet the terms and conditions of our animals and plants quarantine system,” Banun said.
Source: http://en.tempo.co/read/news/2016/12/16/056828406/Illegal-Food-Import-in-Border-Areas-Reaches-2500-Tons