"The authority lies with the minister of trade, and the minister of trade said, traders, who still have goods that they have bought from these smugglers, are still allowed to sell them," Masduki stated during a press conference in Jakarta, Monday.
Although he strictly prohibits the import and sale of used clothing, including selling it in e-commerce platforms, he said the government had agreed to postpone the action against small traders. Currently, he affirmed that the government will first stop the smuggling of imported used clothing, including imported used footwear.
"Especially in this fasting month, they still have to earn a living, right? We have a compromise there. Now, what we agreed with the minister of trade is that we need to be stricter, so there will be no smuggling," he emphasized.
Although they still have permission to sell used imported clothes for a while, Minister Masduki urged traders to have the awareness to switch to legal products, such as those owned by MSMEs.
"We urge them to have their own awareness. The government's goal is quite good, right? How to protect local fashion producers, who have been selling their products in the domestic market and have been hit hard by imported products and also used clothes," he stated.
He further said that through a special hotline service for business actors affected by the ban on the import of illegally used clothing, several traders had requested that they be facilitated with legal substitute products that they could sell.
Responding to this request, KemenKopUKM and Smesco are preparing several lists of MSME-owned clothing, footwear, and cosmetics manufacturers, who will become suppliers of merchandise to replace imported used clothing.
On the same occasion, Director of Business and Marketing of Smesco Indonesia Wientor Rah Mada appealed to traders, affected by the ban on the import of illegally used clothing, to immediately report via the hotline number, so they can be matched with local products that can be sold.
He revealed that currently, 12 producers are ready to supply the replacement of goods. Two of them are Digital Marketing Enthusiast Indonesia (Dimensi) that has the same business scheme as illegally imported used clothing manufacturers, specifically the reseller and drop-shipping method, and Muslim clothing manufacturer Rosella.
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Translator: Kuntum Riswan, Cindy Frishanti Octavia
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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