Getting To Know The Duties Of The Indonesian Quarantine Agency That Merged Three Echelons In Three Ministries

Illustration of animal smuggling (Photo: Doc. Antara)

YOGYAKARTA President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has signed Presidential Regulation (Perpres) Number 45 of 2023 concerning the Indonesian Quarantine Agency. So, what is the task of the Indonesian Quarantine Agency?

In the Presidential Decree, it is explained that the Indonesian Quarantine Agency is a government agency that carries out government duties in the fields of animal, fish and plant quarantine.

The Indonesian Quarantine Agency is one of the government agencies that is under and directly responsible to the President.

"The Indonesian Quarantine Agency is led by the Head," reads Article 2 of Presidential Decree Number 45 of 2023, as quoted by VOI, Monday, July 24, 2023.

In the Presidential Decree, which was signed on July 20, 2023, it was stated that the Indonesian Quarantine Agency had the task of carrying out government duties in the field of Quarantine.

To carry out its duties, the Indonesian Quarantine Agency carries out a function:

The Organizational Structure Of The Indonesian Quarantine Agency

The organizational composition of the Indonesian Quarantine Agency consists of:

Please note, Presidential Decree Number 4 of 2023 automatically merges the Animal & Plant Quarantine Agency in the Ministry of Agriculture, the Fish Quarantine Agency at the Ministry of Maritime Affairs, and the Directorate General of Natural Resources and Ecosystem Conservation of the Ministry of Environment and Forestry into one organization.

With this regulation, all quarantine duties and functions are no longer in each Ministry, but are integrated with the duties and functions of the Indonesian Quarantine Agency.

When this Presidential Regulation comes into effect, the provisions governing the Agricultural Quarantine Agency as stipulated in Presidential Regulation Number 117 of 2022 concerning the Ministry of Agriculture (State Gazette of the Republic of Indonesia of 222 Number 188), are revoked and declared invalid.

"This Presidential Regulation comes into effect on the date of promulgation," the regulation concluded.

The Establishment Of The Indonesian Quarantine Agency To Prevent Leaks

Previously, Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan said the unification of three echelons into the Indonesian Quarantine Agency was to prevent leakage.

"Hopefully one centralized quarantine will reduce the leak," said Luhut in the Stranas PK KPK which was held Wednesday, July 19, 2023.

According to Luhut, the large number of rat ports makes smuggling of animals, plants, and fish often occur undetected. As a result, the state becomes a loss because it does not get income from taxes.

"Our problem is that there are a lot of our ports. Our target is that there are actually 34 ports that we want to repair, now they are going well. But when we look at the small ports where smuggling is located, there are 1000 other ports," said Luhut.

This is information about the duties of the Indonesian Quarantine Agency. Get news updates of other options only on VOI.ID.