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Booze bill will kill liquor importers, distributors: association
The deliberation of alcohol ban bill will surely deal a further blow to the ailing beverage import business, the Association of Beverage Importers and Distributors (APIDMI) chairman Agus Silaban said Wednesday.
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Members of the Navy's elite frogmen command (Kopaska) and Sea Security Force from the Western Fleet Quick Response IV check the cargo of KM Kawal Bahari 1 and KM Kharisma Indah at the Lantamal IV Port in Tanjung Pinang, Riau Islands, on March 20. (Antara/M. N Kanwa)
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he deliberation on a bill to ban alcohol will surely deal a further blow to the ailing beverage import business, Association of Beverage Importers and Distributors (APIDMI) chairman Agus Silaban said on Wednesday.
Agus lamented that since the idea of an alcohol ban had been floated, including a ministerial decree issued by Rachmat Gobel, the former trade minister, banning the distribution of alcohol, the industry had seen its income plunge by 50 percent.
Agus said the implementation of the law would trigger rampant liquor smuggling practices and the illegal distribution of bootleg liquor. Both would cause the state to lose revenues from taxes and customs payments.
According to the association, imported liquor caters to between 5 and 10 percent of domestic liquor consumption.
The bill would force 17 beverage importers and distributors to collapse, he said. (dmr)
