TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Medical device makers urge tax cuts for imported raw materials
Indonesian manufacturers are calling on the government to cut the tax imposed on imported raw materials for making medical devices, which they say have undercut their competitiveness by making it cheaper to import foreign-made equipment.
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
Health workers in personal protective equipment (PPE) prepare to pick up COVID-19 patients from a health facility in Jakarta on Oct. 1, 2020 to transport them to a special isolation hospital. (AFP/Bay Ismoyo)
T
he Indonesian Medical Equipment Manufacturers Association (Aspaki) has called on the government to reduce taxes on imported raw materials for medical devices as prices continue to rise for domestically made equipment.
Aspaki secretary-general Cristina Sandjaja said that more often than not, the high costs of importing the raw materials needed to produce medical devices left the domestic industry so uncompetitive, it was cheaper to import finished products.
“We have several times conveyed to the government the idea of lowering taxes on imported raw materials,” she said on Tuesday, as quoted by Bisnis.com.
For example, Chinese nylon products with harmonized system (HS) codes 59032000 and 59039090 were imposed a 10 percent import duty as well as requirements for obtaining technical approval (Pertek) and an import permit (PI), Cristina said.
In comparison, she said the government only imposed a 5 percent tax on imported finished goods from China with HS code 90189090.
“We suggest the import tax [for raw materials] be lower than for finished products,” Cristina said, expressing her hope that the government would tighten supervision of e-commerce platforms to detect illegally distributed medical devices.
Read also: Rising medical costs lead to surge in health insurance claims
