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hina will likely get a golden ticket in complying with Indonesia's horticulture import rule through a Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA) that will exempt the East Asian country's products from the obligation to enter the Indonesian market through specific ports, as stated in a set of regulations introduced last year, Agriculture Minister Suswono says.

The MRA, which is expected to be signed later this year, will allow China to bring in its products through the largest port Tanjung Priok in North Jakarta, which has been excluded from the list of authorized entry points due to capacity shortages.

Suswono said in Jakarta on Thursday that a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the East Asian country over the trade privilege had been signed, adding that the government was not worried about the possibility that Chinese imports would flood Indonesia's horticulture market, which has been strictly regulated since last year.

The MoU was signed during last week's visit of China's General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine Minister, Zhi Suping. During the meeting, the ministry and the Chinese delegation also signed a Protocol of Plant Quarantine Requirement for the Export of Salacca (snake) fruit.

'China has proposed to bring in their products through Tanjung Priok, but we will continue supervising imports [from China] to block low quality products or those that contain hazardous chemicals and make sure that only good quality products can go through,' Suswono explained.

While the government has agreed to give preferential treatment to China, Indonesia is currently struggling to export its snake fruit to the East Asian country that has barred entry of the commodity since pest and metal-containment findings in February.

Suswono said that the government was still lobbying for China -- its top snake fruit importer -- to once again allow Indonesia to export the commodity to its market. Exports of snake fruit to China reached US$986,952 last year, or 80 percent of Indonesia's total salacca exports of $1,25 million.

Meanwhile, Xu Qi Yi, the first secretary for economic affairs at the China Embassy to Indonesia, said on Thursday in Jakarta that a Chinese delegation recently visited Indonesia to explore the possibility of signing the MRA agreement.

'With the similarity of standards. it will be easier for our horticulture products to enter each other's markets,' he told reporters after the Chinese equipment exhibition in Jakarta.

China will be the fifth country after the US, Australia, Thailand and New Zealand to secure preferential treatment in import regulations that since June last year have reduced limited import gateways for horticulture products from eight to four.

The entry points are Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, Banten; Tanjung Perak Port in Surabaya, East Java; Belawan Port in Medan, North Sumatra and Makassar Port in South Sulawesi.

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

According to the Agriculture Ministry's data, Indonesia imported 198,440 tons and 129,153 tons of oranges and apples respectively from China last year, contributing 90 percent and 70 percent of total imports of the commodities. Imports of oranges in January and February this year, for instance, slumped to 16,574.8 tons compared to 71,019.4 tons in the same period last year before the ports limitation came into effect.