Govt to slash beef import this year

The government announced on Wednesday that it planned to cut cattle and beef imports this year.

“According to the meeting at the Office of the Coordinating Economic Minister, our (cattle and beef) imports will be reduced by 20 percent,” Agriculture Minister Suswono said on Tuesday, as quoted by tempo.co.

He said that the policy would mean a decline in the amount of cattle imported to the country from 400 cows last year to a targeted 283 cows for this year. Likewise, the import of beef will decline from 90,000 tons last year to a targeted amount of 34,000 tons this year.

He said that in the previous years, domestic breeders had been pressured to lower their prices for cattle. It is hoped that the new policy allows breeders to enjoy a more decent price for their cattle.

However, he said that there were still many challenges in fulfilling beef demands in the country that still needed to be overcome.

“The obstacle is in transportation, as well as in other things. We need to fix these obstacles,” he said. (awd)