Indonesia Suddenly Tightens Restrictions Against Chinese Imports

The Indonesian Quarantine Agency (Barantin) requires importers, especially from China, to provide certificates of test results from accredited laboratories for animal, fish and plant commodities to be imported into Indonesia.The head of the Jakarta Animal, Fish and Phytosanitary Center (BBKHIT) said that the reason for targeting Chinese commodities is because the country's food safety system is not yet accredited by Indonesia, so the laboratories have to be registered and accompanied by a SOA certificate. He explained the policy as stipulated in Regulation No. 55 of 2016 of the Minister of Agriculture, which states, among other things, that for countries that are not yet accredited and registered, a certificate of accreditation is required, and the same applies to African countries that do not have accreditation and registration of laboratories. Nonetheless, he emphasized that Chinese laboratories are now registered and this has been confirmed through a decree of the Director General of the Indonesian Quarantine Agency to ensure the safety of every commodity entering Indonesia.

According to the Minister of Agriculture, products imported from China cannot enter Indonesia directly. For example, fruit commodities from China are not allowed to enter the port of Tanjung Priok, but only from the ports of Belawan in North Sumatra and Makassar in South Sulawesi. This is because the port of Tanjung Priok only serves importing countries with recognized and registered laboratories, such as Chile and the United States. If the service user or importer is unable to ship the commodity back to the country of origin, then it will be destroyed, added the head of BBKHIT Jakarta's phytosanitary team, who recently issued a warning to importers after it was discovered that more than the required amount of ornamental ferns had been shipped from China. The quota for these ornamental plants was 1,000 plants, but they found 5,000 plants were shipped. They destroyed the excess shipment and issued a warning to importers of goods from China.