The beef import allocation in the country for the second half of 2012 only totaled 300 tons.Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The Ministry of Trade announced on Friday that it had confiscated 2,500 to 2,800 tons of illegally imported beef, which is now being held by the customs and excise office.
"The directorate general of external trade, the directorate general of excise and customs and the quarantine agency interrupted, on August 17, an attempt to import beef without an import permit (SPI)," Director General for External Trade Deddy Saleh said here on Friday.
He added that, based on information provided by the directorate general of customs and excise office, the port authorities of Tanjung Priok Seaport is holding 118 containers of cow meat from Australia, New Zealand and the United States.
The containers, which belong to a firm known by the initial PT KSU, are still being held by the quarantine agency because PT KSU had not yet obtained an import permit from the ministry of trade.
He noted that the beef import allocation in the country for the second half of 2012 only totaled 300 tons, while in the first six months it was 500 tons.
The 118 containers, which are still being held, were estimated to contain 2,570 to 2,876 tons of beef. "These volumes far exceeded the allocated beef imports allowed by the trade ministry for PT KSU to import," Deddy said.
The director general added that, based on the data, the company had imported beef without an SPI issued by the trade ministry.
He said that his office asked the customs and excise office and the quarantine agency to take firm action against importers who deliberately imported meat without an SPI, based on the trade ministry`s regulations.
(Uu.A014/INE/KR-BSR/B003)
Editor: Priyambodo RH
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