Director of Biodiversity Conservation of the Environment and Forestry Ministry Indra Semiawan stated here on Thursday that earlier, before Law No. 21 of 2019 concerning animal, fish, and plant quarantine, the ministry was not involved in the custom, immigration, and quarantine (CIQ) system.
With the law, he said, the ministry is now part of the CIQ system and is able to conduct surveillance at the entry points of the circulation of animals and plants, such as seaports, airports, stations, and intercity buses.
He explained that the law contains duties and functions to conduct prevention and control of pests and diseases of animals, fish, and plants as well as supervision of their distribution.
Meanwhile, according to the law, the Environment and Forestry Ministry supervises the plants and wildlife, genetic resources, genetically modified products, and invasive species.
Semiawan explained that the ministry monitors the distribution of plants and animals in terms of their conservation status to check whether they are protected species.
He said that the ministry conducts supervision on genetic resources to prevent biopiracy, genetically modified products for environmental safety, and invasive species to prevent them from negatively impacting the endemic species in an area.
"These duties and functions are integrated into the Indonesian Quarantine Agency," Semiawan remarked.
On July 20, 2023, President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) had issued Presidential Regulation No. 45 of 2023 concerning the Indonesian Quarantine Agency.
Under this new regulation, quarantine activities that were earlier under the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, and the Environment and Forestry Ministry, are integrated into the Indonesian Quarantine Agency.
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Translator: Sugiharto P, Kenzu
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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