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Govt issues 133 compulsory SNIs as of June to protect consumers
The SNIs are aimed at protecting local consumers from low-quality imported products that could present dangers to people’s health and safety and the environment.
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Shoppers choose products at a supermarket in Tangerang, Banten. The government has introduced 113 mandatory SNIs to protect consumers from harmful products (Antara/Lucky.R)
T
he Industry Ministry has introduced 113 compulsory national industrial standards (SNI) as of June, this year for products that present dangers to people’s health and safety and the environment, such as zinc-coated steel products, battery products and refined sugar.
The Industry Ministry’s industrial research and development agency Ngakan Timur Antara said in Jakarta on Tuesday the compulsory SNIs are part of 4,984 SNIs, which had been introduced by the government as of June to protect local consumers from low-quality imported products.
He said mandatory SNI certification was permitted by the World Trade Organization (WTO) and had been implemented by many countries. “Many countries around the world use similar standards and technical regulations as instruments to better protect local industry from the lack of quality imported products,” said Ngakan
The government currently operates 51 product certification institutions (LSPro) and 87 testing laboratories. Ngakan, however, added that the government would need additional certification institutions and testing laboratories to better implement the SNIs.
According to Statistics Indonesia (BPS) data, the contribution of the manufacturing sector to GDP fell to 19.52 percent in the second quarter of this year, with the sector recording only 3.5 percent growth annually, below GDP growth at 5 percent.
According to a presentation from the World Bank to President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo last month, the country’s SNI certification process is cumbersome, time-consuming and unpredictable.
The World Bank stated that SNI verification of key inputs should be converted into self-certification in order to connect Indonesian firms to international markets, with the bank calling for government intervention into ministerial regulations from the Trade Ministry and Industry Ministry.
