60 Types of Imported Fruits from 40 Countries Enter the Indonesian Markets
According to Dr. Ir. Arifin Tasrif, M.Sc, Head of Plant Quarantine and Plant Biosafety, Ministry of Agriculture, as many as 60 types of fruits from 40 countries enter the Indonesian markets while Indonesia is only able to export 7 types of fruit. "Our fruits are competitive in ASEAN, China and the Middle East only. It was about 7 years required to be able to export the mangosteen to the intended countries such as Australia and the United States, thus, it means that those countries protect their farmers, "he said.
To protect our farmers, in the last two years the government has begun to protect our horticulture. In term of the entry prots, as the Indonesian government opens more than one entry ports, therefore Indonesia is more open than other countries. "China government imposes one entry port for imported goods, and European Economic Community (EEC) imposes also one entry port, the Amsterdam, the Netherlands, for both the imported goods as well as the halal products for other EEC member countries. Contrary to those countries, Indonesia imposes eighth entry ports policy, accordingly we won’t be surprised to see a lot of imported products in our markets, "he said in his presentation in the talkshow on “Perlindungan dan Akselerasi Expor Produk Pertanian (Protection and Acceleration Export of Agricultural Products) ". the Talkshow was part of a series of Agrinex 2012, it was the sixth of its kind, and was held at the Jakarta Convention Center, on 1 April 2012. The theme of 2012 Agrinex was “Agribusiness For All”, which was organized jointly between Bogor Agricultural University, PT. Performax, and Ministry of Agriculture (Kementan).
The Talkshow informed the government’s strategy in imposing a series of regulation which limits the number of entry ports for fresh vegetables and fruits. Plant Quarantine Agency should be the strong guard for the importation of fresh vegetables and fruits. In term of protecting our horticulture products of their pests and diseases, but in term of its food security of the preservatives contents that include formaldehyde.
According to Mr. Tony, one of the staff of the Horticultural Agency of the Minister of Agriculture, the government is planning to impose a series of regulation which limits the number of entry ports for fresh vegetables and fruits from 14 to four, and finally only one entry port policy will be imposed, namely, Belawan port. "In the future, importation process won’t be depended solely on the harbor, but also will cover its distribution. Currently the development of the distribution policies is progress. Of course the government will also impose exit ports to export our fresh vegetables and fruits. But the most important of all, we have to implement good business immediately, particularly the registration and varieties the species we grow. Not all Indonesian products will be allowed to be exported if their varieties are not clear. Moreover, we should not be left behind, we do a lot of protection, we should not export our germplasms, "he explained.
In the same occasion, another strategy was offered by another speaker of INKOPTAN, Mr. Suryo Bawono. According to him, there are technical strategies that should be carried out by local governments in protecting farmers. For example in East Java, the East Java Governor issued the Governor Decree to ban the importation of fruit and vegetables into the traditional markets.
The East Java provincial government regulates the traffic of fruit and vegetable importation. For example, in time of mango harvesting in Malang regency, then the mango importation will be banned. In addition, only local fruits and vegetables should be sold in traditional markets. The illustration will be as follows, the government has set up the gun, the provincial governments through its governor decrees will be bullets. It should be adopted by other provincial governments, "said Secretary-General INKOPTAN. But the most important of all, to reduce the appaling the imported fresh vegetables and fruits in the market, we have to promote immediately that our local consumers love our local products. (Wied).
