Govt imports 5,000 tons of meat for Idul Fitri

The government has imported 5,000 tons of meat to address public demand during the Idul Fitri holiday in September, Agriculture Minister Suswono said on Tuesday.

“This is a precautionary step given our expectations of high demand. We will prioritize local meat, but we will import meat if we are running out,” Suswono said, as quoted by tempointeraktif.com.

Suswono said he hoped that imported meat would not hurt local meat businesses.

“I hope the police and customs and excise officers will supervise shipments of imported meat at our ports to ensure we receive the amount needed, while keeping focus on loopholes that may lead to smuggling,” Suswono said.

Local meat only fulfilled 68 percent of public demand, while the remaining 32 percent was fulfilled by imports, he said

Some merchants have encountered difficulties selling local meat. Local meat costs around Rp 65,000 (US$7.30) per kilogram, while imported meat is just Rp 24,500 per kilogram, meat merchant Endang Zarkasih said.

“Most customers prefer imported meat because of its low price and tender quality,” said Endang, a vendor at the Pasar Baru market in West Java.