T

he government is planning to grant China preferential treatment in coping with Indonesian horticultural import rules, in return for a reopening of the Chinese market for Indonesian products that have been barred from the East Asian country, Agriculture Minister Suswono says.

Suswono said the Agriculture Ministry had asked China to allow the entry of four Indonesian commodities currently banned from entering the Chinese market, in exchange for issuing an exemption to Chinese apples, citruses, pears and garlic to be exported to Indonesia through specific ports '€” as stipulated in a series of regulations introduced last year.

'€œThe commodities that we want to trade-off are snake fruit, mangosteen, avocados and swallow nests, of which the entries into China have been barred for failing to meet food safety standards,'€ Suswono said this week.

The trade-off, according to Suswono, was expected to be reached through a Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA), slated to be inked later this year. The MRA will grant China access to all ports in Indonesia, including Indonesia'€™s largest port by volume, Tanjung Priok in North Jakarta, which has been excluded from the list of authorized entry points due to capacity shortages.

Through a series of regulations issued by the agriculture and trade ministries, the government has tightened horticultural imports by reducing entry gateways for imports to only four ports, introducing importer licenses and rules on cold storage facilities for fruit and vegetable importers, and limiting import amounts of 15 horticulture products through a season-based quota system.

The plan to give special import treatment to China emerged last week with the signing of a protocol on plant quarantine requirements for the export of snake fruit. The protocol was hailed by Suswono and China'€™s General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine Minister Zhi Suping during the latter'€™s visit.

China barred the importation of snake fruit from Indonesia in February due to pest and metal-containment findings. In December 2012, the country also rejected the delivery of mangosteen that was infested by fruit flies.

Indonesia exported 764,000 tons of snake fruit to China last year, reaching US$986,952 or 80 percent of Indonesia'€™s total snake fruit exports of $1.25 million. The government has targeted to maintain 15 percent of export growth and plans to export 878,600 tons of the fruit to China this year, and had already exported 238,500 tons as of February before the commodity was banned.

China is also the biggest importer of Indonesia'€™s mangosteen, accounting for 40 percent of Indonesia'€™s total exports of the commodity, with 20,000 tons or $20 million per annum.

Trade Ministry data showed China contributed 35.29 percent, or around $600 million, out of a total $1.7 billion in horticultural imports in 2011. In fruit alone, China contributed 55 percent out of total imports of $735 million

Indonesia, on the other hand, marketed only 5.25 percent of its horticultural products to China in 2012, amounting to $26.38 million, from the country'€™s whole horticultural product exports of $502.27 million, according to the Agriculture Ministry'€™s data.

The preferential treatment proposal drew a mixed reaction from business players and experts. While some argued the accord was vital to expanding horticultural commerce to China, others said it might weaken Indonesia'€™s trade position with the East Asian country.

Hermanto Siregar, agriculture economist from the Bogor Institute of Agriculture, said the agreement could serve as a cornerstone of closer economic ties with China and would be a good for expanding Indonesia'€™s unique fruit market.

'€œWhat is important is that the government regulates the entry period for imports from the country so it will not swamp the market during the harvest period and further hurt local production and farmers,'€
Hermanto said.

However, tones of discord came from National Agriculture Council chairman Benny Kusbini and Indonesian Fresh Fruit and Vegetables Exporters and Importers Association chairman Kafi Kurnia, who said such a move was out of proportion and showed the weakness of the government when faced with international pressure.

Benny said the government should never favor any countries in making horticultural import regulations effective, while Kafi said granting preferential treatment to China as the biggest horticultural importer would only deprive existing regulations that were supposed to protect local production and maintain competitive prices for domestic horticultural commodities.