Import Duty for Soybean Imports should be Eliminated

INDUSTRY.co.id - Jakarta - The Center for Indonesian Policy Studies (CIPS) said the import duty policy on soybean imports should still be released because it makes it easier for consumers and small industries in the country.

"Imposing import duties on soybeans will make it difficult for consumers and small industries to obtain raw materials," said Head of Research of CIPS Hizkia Respatiadi in Jakarta, not long ago.

He said this was related to the proposal of the Ministry of Agriculture which plans to impose import duties on soybean import.

According to Hezekiah, if imports of soybeans are subject to import duty, soybean import price will increase so burdensome consumers.

He argues that so far the national soybean needs cannot be met by local soybean farmers.

"Nearly 68 percent of the national soybean demand is met by imports, and by freeing import duties, the government ensures consumers and industries can get quality soybean supplies from various sources and at affordable prices," he said.

Related to the farmers, CIPS always encourages the government to improve the welfare of farmers through existing social protection programs, such as Family Hope Program (PKH), Healthy Indonesia Card (KIS) and Smart Indonesia Card (KIP).

Bank Indonesia has issued bilateral trade settlement arrangements using local currency settlement, in order to reduce the dependence of importers and exporters against the US dollar in transactions with a number of partner countries.

"The arrangement of local currency settlement (LCS) is also expected to support the stability of the rupiah exchange rate," said Director of Communications Department of BI Arbonas Hutabarat in Jakarta, Monday (16/10).

The terms of use of rupiah in the settlement of trading transactions are listed in Bank Indonesia Regulation (PBI) No.19 / 11 / PBI / 2017 which is effective on January 2, 2018.

Earlier, the Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS) said the value of Indonesian imports in September 2017 decreased 5.39 percent from the previous month by 13.50 billion US dollars to 12.78 billion US dollars.

Head of BPS Suhariyanto said the decline was caused by the decline of oil and gas imports by 76.3 million dollars and non-oil and gas imports by 652.3 million dollars.

"Imports fall deeper if compared to exports, import market share is still not moving from China," said Suhariyanto, in a press conference in Jakarta, Monday (16/10).