Revised import conditions, revolving mainly around GAP certification, are causing headaches for Indonesia’s fruit trade.
The changes were outlined by the Indonesian Ministry of Agriculture (MoA), under its Recommendations to Import Horticultural Product (RIPH).
Obtaining an RIPH from the MoA’s Directorate-General of Horticulture is a prerequisite for obtaining an import license from the Indonesian Ministry of Trade for many horticultural products.
Asiafruit understands the MoA’s revisions have already resulted in some rejections of importers' RIPH.
According to an MoA document, the new conditions require importers to provide: original scanned colour copies of GAP certificates obtained from growers (rather than downloading certificates from the GlobalGAP website); notarised translation of the certificates into Bahasa Indonesia; validity of GAP certificates until the end of the import year; and specification on the certificates that Indonesia is a country of destination.
Negotiations headed up by the Indonesian Importers’ Association (ASEIBSSINDO) are understood to have led to the removal of the requirement for notarised translations, but the issue of validity period of certificates and country of destination remain as requirements.
The matter has caused confusion among exporters from countries that have a Country Recognition Agreement (CRA) with Indonesia. Under terms of the agreement, the CRA replaces the need for GAP certification.
It is understood the MoA is looking to ammend the regulation to recognise the countries that have a CRA with Indonesia.
