Indonesia has 433 nontariff measures related to food imports, which include quantitative restriction or quota, sanitary standards and inspection before shipment in the exporting country, according to data compiled by the Center for Indonesian Policy Studies (CIPS).

Beef imports, for example, need 11 administrative requirements and four technical requirements just to get a recommendation from the Agriculture Ministry, the first of six steps in a long process.

“With this, now our beef prices are significantly higher than international prices, which makes it harder for people, especially those with lower incomes, to afford beef,” CIPS head of research Felippa Amanta said in a virtual discussion on Thursday.

While the government aims to reduce food imports, the average price of beef in Indonesia stood above Rp 100,000 (US$6.93) per kilogram in October 2019, while the global average was slightly lower than Rp 80,000 per kg, according to data compiled by CIPS.

The COVID-19 pandemic has upended the country’s economy this year, with the government expecting full-year growth to reach only 1 percent under a baseline scenario or contract by 0.4 percent under a worst-case scenario. On top of an estimated 3 million job loss as of May, the government predicts up to 5.5 million workers could lose their jobs, while 4 million could fall below the poverty line.

With the possibility of worsening poverty this year due to the health crisis, eliminating nontariff barriers to minimize price hikes may help Indonesians maintain a sufficient food intake, especially for import-dependent commodities, CIPS stated.

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