AIKI Expects The Government Immediately Solve The Problem of Cocoa Discrimination

INDUSTRY.co.id - Jakarta - The Indonesian Cocoa Industry Association (AIKI) expects the government to resolve the issue of tariff discrimination on processing duties on processed cocoa in the EU that has long been happening.

This follows the government's step to accelerate international trade agreements with a number of countries targeted for completion by the end of this year.

AIKI Chairman Pieter Jasman said the cocoa industry has long faced discrimination of tariffs on processed cocoa in the EU. Where products from Indonesia are subject to import duty of 4% to 9%, while similar products of African origin are subject to 0% import duty.

The industry expects import duty tariffs to be reduced to 0%, as well as similar products from Africa. "If this succeeds certainly very useful to improve the competitiveness of our products in the European Union," he said on Sunday (10/09/2017).

Pieter said if the discrimination of import duty tariff can be solved, the competitiveness of Indonesian cocoa products becomes stronger. The European Union becomes the main market for processed cocoa products in the form of cocoa butter.

"Because now with the import duty, our products become more expensive than the products of African origin," he said.