The Reason Shopee Closes Foreign Fields: Cross Border Services Through E-Commerce Stopped By Government

E-commerce illustration (Photo: dock. Unsplash)

YOGYAKARTA Shopee Indonesia has officially stopped selling products from foreign sellers (cross border), especially for cross-border products that compete with products of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). Termination of sales of products from foreign sellers has been closed since Wednesday, October 4, 2023, at 22.00 WIB. So what is the reason Shopee closed overseas stalls?

Head of Public Policy Shopee Indonesia, Radityo Triatmojo conveyed the reason shopee closed foreign stalls related to the Regulation of the Minister of Trade (Permendag) Number 31 of 2023 concerning Business Licensing, Advertising, Development, and Supervision of Business Actors in Trade Through Electronic Systems.

This new regulation was issued to answer various unhealthy practices in trading through electronic systems that harm MSME actors.

Through this regulation, the Ministry of Trade is also committed to building an e-commerce ecosystem that is fair, healthy and useful.

This Permendag aims to create an e-commerce ecosystem that is fair, healthy, and useful by paying attention to dynamic technological developments. This regulation also aims to support the empowerment of MSMEs and trading business actors through the domestic electronic system (PMSE) and to increase consumer protection. "Said Trade Minister Zulkifli Hasan at a press conference in Jakarta, Wednesday, September 27, 2023.

Permendag Number 31/2023 regulates the definition of various business models for PMSE organizers, ranging from marketplaces to social commerce.

Through this definition, coaching and supervision of PMSE can be carried out optimally, including related to licensing, taxation, and other trade provisions.

In this regulation, social commerce is defined as a social media organizer who provides certain features, menus, and/or facilities that allow merchants (mechants) to offer goods and/or services.

Social commerce is not allowed to provide payment transaction services on its electronic system and can only offer or promote goods and services.

Not only that, this Permendag also regulates the provisions for the list of goods from abroad that are allowed to enter Indonesia through an e-commerce platform that facilitates cross-border trade.

Next, Permendag No. 31/2023 also regulates obligations for traders and e-commerce platforms to show and trade evidence of fulfillment of goods standardization, which includes:

With this provision, e-commerce platforms, including Shopee, are required to stop the sale of products from foreign sellers that are not in accordance with statutory provisions.

Shopee Indonesia's Head of Public Policy, Radityo Triatmojo said, cross-border transactions on Shopee were recorded at less than 1 percent. In addition, the cross-border mechanism carried out is also in accordance with the process in applicable laws and regulations such as taxation.

"We can say that the products sold cross-border at Shopee are not products that compete directly with MSME products. Because we have closed 14 categories of cross-border products that compete with MSME products in accordance with the direction of the Ministry of Cooperatives and SMEs in 2021," he said in an official statement, Friday, October 6.

So far, he continued, the cross-border carried out by Shopee Indonesia aims to make local products also have the same opportunities and the same opportunity to be able to access the export market directly.

Radityo emphasized that the closure of foreign stalls will not affect the ongoing export activities of Indonesian products.

"We will try even though the closing of cross-border sellers in Indonesia does not affect the current export activities of Indonesian products," said Radit.

That's information about the reason Shopee closed overseas stalls. Get news updates of other options only on VOI.ID.