"They have asked for beef export access to Indonesia because their mainstay export is beef," Kadin Chairman for South American Affairs, Jocobus Dwihartanto, said on the sidelines of the Colombia-Indonesia Investment Summit on Monday.
However, he said, the Indonesian government could not say with certainty as to when Colombian beef exports would be allowed, as there is a zoning regulation applicable to cattle importing nations, which makes it mandatory that the imported cattle/meat should be free from the foot-and-mouth disease.
"In this case, we cannot say anything yet as we are still waiting for deregulation," he stated.
He further said that the desire of Colombia to export beef to Indonesia could be taken into consideration owing to Indonesias beef dependence on Australia.
"We could consider the offer even if we still do not know the price of beef in Colombia. It would be good for us to reduce our dependence on Australia," he said.
Dwihartanto said that by considering beef imports from Colombia, Indonesia would at least have the alternative to import beef from another country.
"This applies to trade affairs. If possible, we should promote competitiveness for all," he said.
The Indonesian government is now taking steps to reduce its dependence on one cattle exporter, namely Australia, which has been Indonesias main beef supplier so far.
The Director General for Animal Husbandry and Animal Health at the Ministry of Agriculture, Muladno said on Monday that efforts to reduce dependence would be carried out to reduce export allocation of feedlot cows from Australia.
"Besides encouraging efforts to be self-sufficient in beef, the efforts will also help reduce our dependence on Australia, which has so far been the sole supplier of beef to Indonesia," he had said on April 8.
Muladno added that so far, Indonesia's dependence on Australia for feedlot and beef imports had been very high and that it had been the only country exporting meat and cattle to Indonesia.(*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2015
