Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries and the Ministry of Trade inked a cooperation agreement to tighten control on the imports of fish and salt to protect domestic food commodities.

"We shared a mutual goal to enhance control on the imports of fish and salt in an effort to protect our fishermen and salt farmers," Director General of Marine and Fisheries Resources Monitoring Rear Admiral Adin Nurawaluddin stated during the agreement-signing ceremony at the Marine Affairs and Fisheries Ministry's Office, Jakarta, on Monday.

The two ministries will collaborate to conceive strategies on import monitoring and supervision operations, he remarked.

The director general informed that one of the key goals of the agreement was to supervise and ensure conformity of fishery and salt commodities' imports to its objectives and legal requirements.

"We will collaborate for the monitoring process to ensure that the imports abide by the regulations and conform to its purposes," Nurawaluddin stressed.

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Meanwhile, the Trade Ministry's Director General of Consumer Protection and Trade Order, Veri Anggrijono, expressed optimism that the collaboration would benefit domestic maritime and fisheries industries.

Anggrijono reiterated the need for fisheries and salt commodities' imports to ensure a conductive domestic business climate while ensuring adherence to current regulations on conducting exports and import control in future.

"We are hopeful of a beneficial business climate being created through the import control arrangement that may encourage development of the domestic maritime and fisheries industries," he stated.

Earlier, Minister of Marine Affairs and Fisheries Sakti Wahyu Trenggono underlined his commitment to protecting fishermen, fish farmers, and farm farmers. The minister also expressed support for efforts to improve the quality of life of residents dependent on marine and fisheries by developing fish cultivation processes and establishing fish cultivation villages.

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Translator: M Razi Rahman, Nabil Ihsan
Editor: Suharto
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