China has replaced the US and Australia as the top supplier of imported fruit in Indonesia, according to a report on antara.co.id
The chairman of Tropical Fruit Studies, Roesdhy Poerwanto, told a gathering of agriculture public relations officers on Thursday that, where once fruits such as apples, pears and oranges always came from the US or Australia, now they are sourced from China, the site said.
'Fruit from China is now not only seen in modern markets but also at stalls of roadside vendors,' Mr Poerwanto is quoted as saying. US and Australian fruit is now exclusively sold in upper-class modern markets, he added.
The influx of Chinese fruit follows the ASEAN +3 charter on trade, where China agreed to scrap its import tax on Indonesian palm oil in return for Indonesia opening its market to tariff-free Chinese fruit, antara.co.id said.
According to the report, Mr Poerwanto said that the annual volume of Chinese fruit arriving in Indonesia represented less than five per cent of national fruit production. But he added that Indonesia’s ministry of horticulture had prepared a concept to prevent Chinese fruit from flooding the market by referring it to consumer protection. 'We will ensure that products entering the country are safe to consume,' he is quoted as saying.
