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Businesses call for amendment to already revised import curbs
The revised rule primarily addresses complaints over import regulations for passenger goods and migrant workers, but stipulations on raw and auxiliary materials remain mostly the same.
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Material conditions: Workers load and unload containers on Oct. 16, 2023, at Tanjung Priok port in North Jakarta. (Antara/Aditya Pradana Putra)
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recent revision to the government’s import curbs has done little to address businesses’ concerns, leading to calls for another amendment of the regulation introduced in March by the Trade Ministry.
Shinta Kamdani, chairwoman of the Indonesia Employers Association (Apindo) said many Harmonized System (HS) raw and auxiliary materials remained on the list of prohibited and restricted goods despite requests to normalize them, citing inadequate local substitutes.
“We will continue to advocate for the improvement of Indonesia’s import regulations to better accommodate businesses [to improve] their performance and existing industries’ competitiveness,” she told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.
The curbs were stipulated in Trade Ministerial Regulation No. 36/2023, which affected finished goods, as well as intermediate goods and raw materials, categorized under 2,400 HS codes across 18 sectors.
Several industries like textile had warned of a potential halt to production caused by restrictions on monoethylene glycol (MEG), which is needed to produce polyester, while miners warned that the restriction on heavy equipment tires would hamper mining operations and output.
The regulation also included restrictions on goods purchased overseas and imported in carry-on or check-in baggage based on either the goods’ value or volume.
Read also: Govt to undo latest curbs on personal imports
