Due to Australia`s decision to suspend export of cows to Indonesia recently upon a reason that the Indonesian slaughterhouses are below standards the minister said "I wish an agreement could be made with regard to the minimum standards for slaughterhouses. The standard needs to be agreed upon not by one but both parties."
He said after opening the 5th Soropadan Agro Expo (SAE) that four experts from Australia and four experts from Indonesia are now formulating the mininum standards.
"The team also involves independent members. We involve experts from universities and the Indonesian Association of Vets," he said.
"If the minimum standars are already available we will determine which slaugterhouses meet the standards. And this is business affairs and the government could not intervene," he said.
He said it would then be up to them to resume their business after they think they already meet the standards.
"To meet the domestic meat demand we would prioritize domestic product while imports will be done only to meet the shortage," the minister said.
He said a census had been carried out on cows and livestock in June and hopefully a picture could be seen in July that shows the real population of cows in the country.
"If the population could meet the domestic need, we thank God, but if there is still a shortage we will just decide whether we will import meat or live cattle," he said.
He said however that he would rather prioritize live cattle so that they could be fattened in the country. "At least it could help create employment as they will be slaughtered only after three months of fattening here," he said.
So far around 30 percent of meat need in the country is imported, he said. Later it will be calculated again after the census data had been counted to see whether the country still has to import up to 30 percent or not, he said.
(SYS/H-YH)
Editor: Suryanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
