Cattle import reduction to Australia not retaliation: Indonesia
Posted by Labels: Cattle and Livestock, Indonesia, New Zealand and Australia
Indonesia’s plan to scale back live cattle imports by nearly half next year is a testament to the performance of the domestic industry, not a form of retaliation against Australia’s export ban from earlier this year, an official said.
The Agriculture Ministry says the plan is a direct result of the country’s ability to achieve its self-sufficiency target three years ahead of schedule. The ministry said domestic cattle growers had managed to produce 14.7 million head of livestock this year; well over the target of 14.5 million for 2014.
The surprising result would allow Indonesia to cut back on the combined import volume of both frozen meat and live cattle from 35 percent to 17.5 percent of the total domestic demand.
Agriculture Ministry director general for animal husbandry Syukur Iwantoro said the total volume of meat coming from frozen meat and live cattle imports is expected to reach 85,000 tons next year.
“About 51,000 tons of the total would come from live cattle imports, and that equals 282,000 cows.”
Such calculations were taken into consideration in deciding next year’s import quota for cattle, which would see a significant reduction from an initial plan of 520,000 to 282,000, Syukur said. Indonesia currently imports live cattle from Australia, New Zealand, the United States and Canada.
As the largest exporters of cattle to Indonesia, Australian growers have been the first to raise concerns over the plan. They argue that the latest developments are retaliation for Australia’s “premature” decision to suspend live cattle exports to Indonesia in May in the wake of video evidence showing the mistreatment of animals in Indonesian abattoirs.
Live cattle exports to Indonesia resumed in July after an agreement was reached that paved the way for new standards.
The Cattle Council of Australia says the large cut to exports, if realized, would have a significant impact on northern beef producers.
“It’s quite a large reduction and more than we expected,” vice-president Andrew Ogilvie said as quoted by ABC Television on Friday.
Syukur said the scaling back of meat imports was in line with Indonesia’s plan to achieve self-sufficiency and had nothing to do with Australia’s export ban. Meat import reduction would be further expanded in the following year, targeting 13 percent of total demand in 2013 and 10 percent in 2014.
Chairman of the Indonesian Cow and Buffalo Breeders Association (PPSKI) Teguh Boediyana said that he was optimistic about the government’s target.
“I think it is a logical figure. Besides, the government will not set a target without carefully calculating and thoroughly studying the real conditions,” Teguh told the Post.
In line with Thomas, he said that the government would need to continuously check the market in order to prevent any possible shortage in meat supply. He believed, however, that Indonesian-bred cattle quality would continue to improve each year to meet the demand of the country’s upper-middle class society.
In a separate interview, Indonesian Meat Importers Association (Aspidi) executive director Thomas Sembiring said the scale of import reduction was excessive and the government needed to conduct an immediate review after implementation.
“We are afraid there will be shortages of high quality meat in the market next year. The government should review the market two months after it [the new policy] is implemented,” Thomas told the Post.
He said that high-end restaurants and restaurants in star hotels were likely to feel the impact of the policy because domestic bred cattle quality was not the same as imported cattle. If such circumstances occurred, the price of beef would be more expensive and consumers would complain, he said.
“The government should then be responsible and review the figures,” he added. (nfo)
The Jakarta Post
0 comments:
Posting Komentar