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Indonesia proposes ASEAN delay FTA
The Indonesian government submitted a proposal to the ASEAN Council last week to postpone tariff reductions on 228 items under the free trade agreement between the regional grouping and China
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he Indonesian government submitted a proposal to the ASEAN Council last week to postpone tariff reductions on 228 items under the free trade agreement between the regional grouping and China.
“The notification we sent to the ASEAN Council last week stipulates we want a renegotiation,” Industry Minister Mohamad Suleman Hidayat said.
Hidayat said Indonesia was willing to trade the postponing with something that will benefit China.
“Nothing is [done] for free.”
Coordinating Economic Minister Hatta Rajasa said that the formal renegotiations would be held later this year, with the Trade Ministry to be the government’s representative on the deal table.
“We have continuously held informal talks [with our counterparts]. We’ll continue renegotiations, while referring to the protocols of our agreement,” he said.
The AC-FTA, effective early this year, applied zero tariffs on 6,682 tariff lines in 17 sectors, including 12 in manufacturing, and five in agriculture, mining and maritime sectors.
In addition to the Agriculture Ministry’s plans, the Industry Ministry will also likely set tighter control through, for example, antidumping measures as tariff barriers are no longer an option.
Anti-dumping measures enforced to counter dumping occur usually by imposing additional import tariffs, while dumping happens when a manufacturer exports products to another country at prices below those charged in the home market, or even below production costs.
“We need another strategy to be more selective regarding imported goods, so they don’t flood [the domestic market] without guard,” Industry Minister Mohamad Suleman Hidayat said.
Apart from anti-dumping measures, the Industry Ministry issued mandatory SNIs on, among others, safety shoes, packaged mineral water, dry batteries and zinc-aluminum-coated steel in 2009.
It is set to mandate SNIs on cocoa powder and children’s toys later this year.
Agriculture Minister Suswono proposed another measure to protect domestic industries from an influx of Chinese products, tightening quarantine on fruit vegetable imports at entry points.
Suswono said the government had prepared necessary facilities in quarantines across the archipelago.
He also said his ministry had teamed with state surveying firm PT Sucofindo and would collaborate with private companies for tighter control.
“Domestic producers and importers have said they are willing to cooperate with us,” Suswono said.
He said the government would maximize the implementation of sanitary phytosanitary measures — a WTO agreement on food safety and animal and plant health standards.
The Agriculture Ministry, he said, would also issue mandatory SNIs on food.
