Plan to import Brazil beef sparks debate

Mariani Dewi ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Thu, 05/08/2008 11:03 AM  |  City

Brazil may be the world's largest beef exporter, but many animal experts in Indonesia object to the idea of importing from the land of samba and soccer.

The debate begins with concerns over foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) - which has killed millions of cattle worldwide.

The World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) divides beef-producing countries into three categories: FMD-free countries, countries with FMD-free zones, and FMD-free compartments in a country.

Indonesia ranks in the first category, along with 58 other countries, while Brazil is in the second.

Indonesia is forced to import because it cannot satisfy national demands for meat on its own. It had previously only imported from Australia and New Zealand, which drove up prices for local consumers.

The minister for agriculture, Anton Apriyantono, has moved to import meat from category two countries like Brazil and Uruguay, whose meat is much cheaper than Australian and New Zealand exports.

According to the United Nations Commodity Trade Statistics Database, Brazilian meat sold in Southeast Asia costs less than half that of Australian meat, excluding freight.

As Brazil is much further away from the region, the freight cost should be higher than from Australia. But Brazil's ambassador to Indonesia, Edmundo Sussumo Fujita, is confident that prices will be lower even after freight costs.

"We are selling (beef) everywhere, even in the Middle East. We are the biggest exporter (in the world). We would not be able to sell as much if prices were not competitive," Fujita told The Jakarta Post recently.

Minister Anton's plan has sparked debate in Indonesia.

Yudi Guntara Noor of the Indonesian Veterinary Association told the Post that he did not understand the government's reasoning for importing meat from Brazil, given it could bring in FMD.

"Now the government has said it is for the consumers' needs, but I wonder if it is some businesses who want it opened. We now import from four countries, and I think we have enough competition," he said.

Brazil exported 2.7 million tons of beef last year to around 180 countries, including FMD-free countries like Germany, France and the U.S. It had a worldwide market share of 26 percent, ahead of Australia's 20 percent.

Though late last year the European Union (EU) banned Brazil's meat because its origin could not be traced, this has been solved by inspections from the EU to the exporting farms.

Fujita argued that Brazil's size made the zoning system safe. Brazil has a land area of 8.45 million square kilometers, over four times that of Indonesia and around as big as the whole of Europe. It means each zone could easily be as big as Java.

"The national system is like saying if there is FMD in Papua, we cannot sell it in Sumatra," Fujita said.

As in the case of EU member countries, importers may select particular farms as their sole providers, allowing imports to be limited to pre-approved locations. There are only 200 farms, around 10 percent of the total farms in Brazil, that have been inspected and approved for export.

The real problem, according to the Indonesian Consumer Association (YKLI) and the Veterinary Public Health Commission (Kesmavet), lies in the legitimacy of import checks.

"Even when we imported from Australia, we found that some meat was not what it said it was in the packaging. Some meat from India is repackaged to be sold in Indonesia under the Australian stamp," Indah Sukmaningsih of YLKI told the Post.

India, a major meat exporter, sells high quality meat at a competitive price to several countries, including Malaysia, the Philippines and in the Middle East.

Bambang Sumiarto, the chairman of Kesmavet, said as quoted by Kompas newspaper that despite OIE approval the commission was concerned that products entering Indonesia are not from FMD- free agreed zones. An import from Canada resulted in offal rather than meat being sent to Indonesia.

Indah said checking imports had proven to be difficult.

"Few years ago there were cases of Australian meat. The box said "Australian" but they were actually full of Indian meat. We followed it up with the Australian Embassy and there were huge protests.

"We wanted the meat to be burnt or returned, but the ship carrying the meat just took off and it was impossible for us to know what happened to it. They may entered Indonesia eventually," Indah said.

She worries that opening more doors will mean opening up more loopholes in the checking system.

"The government may be right to open up competition as it could reduce prices but it should uphold the principle of caution. It is easy to allow imports but it is hard to manage inspections," she said.

Indah said Indonesia lacked facilities and veterinarians to guard entry points.

"We may say they are going to strengthen the checks, but how? Judging by the current facilities and manpower, I think it is better if we do not import," she said.

Even without formal imports, there are already cases of illegal meat entering Indonesia, from India, China and even Brazil.

"We really do not know the status of FMD in Indonesia because it is not really checked up on," Haniwar Syarif of the National Meat Processor Association (NAMPA) said.

"If the disease spreads easily, then there must already be FMD in Indonesia," he said.

The FMD disease can only spread through live cattle. If the meat is processed properly in the country of origin, the meat is safe to consume.

There is consensus that Indonesia should increase its self-sufficiency for meat.

"Although we want to have lower prices, we do not want to do it at the expense of national food safety. Why doesn't the government encourage more local beef production rather than importing?" Indah said.

The Ministry of Agriculture started a program for meat self-sufficiency nationally two years ago, with an aim to reach its target in 2010.

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