Imports Of Used Illegal Clothing Potentially Lose The State Up To IDR 19 Trillion

Imports of used clothes (photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - The Association of Indonesian Filamentary Filaments and Fiaments Producers (Apsyfi) said that the state has the potential to lose revenue of up to Rp19 trillion due to the entry of 220,000 tons of illegal imported clothing into Indonesia.

This is known based on data from the Central Statistics Agency or BPS, throughout 2022.

General Chairperson of Apsy Redma Gita Wiraswasta said the losses felt from this value came from the tax sector which should have been paid by illegal importers. According to him, these individuals usually carry out import activities through rat routes.

"If the importer is not illegal by paying taxes and entry fees, the government will not lose IDR 19 trillion in revenue," said Redma at a press conference in Jakarta, Friday, March 31.

He said the number of clothing used for illegal imports, which reached 320,000 tons, was equivalent to 16,000 containers per year or 1,333 containers per month.

In fact, according to Redma, if Indonesia can produce local clothing from the number of clothing used for illegal imports, it will be able to absorb 545 thousand direct workers and 1.5 million indirect workers.

"So, the total employee income is IDR 54 trillion per year," he said.

Meanwhile, Minister of Cooperatives and SMEs (Menkop UKM) Teten Masduki said the government would not hesitate to enforce the law against the entry of illegal used clothes, because the number that entered Indonesia was already very large.

"The clothes of the smuggled marks are extraordinary. (Based on) only 2022 data, there are 25 thousand tons that enter if calculated by the state," he said.

Therefore, Teten hopes that in the future trade and smuggling of used imported clothes must be immediately dismissed to protect the domestic market.

"This is a government policy, there is a law related to the prohibition of importing illegal used goods, so in the future illegal clothes for traders and smuggling must be stopped," he added.

According to BPS data, Indonesia imported 26.22 tons of used used clothing and textiles throughout 2022. The total import value reached 272,146 US dollars or around Rp4.18 billion.