Ministry Of Trade Targets Illegal Import Task Force Formed This Week

The Ministry of Trade (Kemendag) is targeting the establishment of a Task Force (Satgas) to eradicate illegal imported goods to be completed in the near future.

Special Staff to the Minister of Trade for International Trade Agreement, Bara Krishna Hasibuan said that the basic legal draft for the formation of the task force had been completed and only had to be signed by the Minister of Trade Zulkifli Hasan.

"Regarding the Task Force, hopefully one to two days it will be formed. The final draft is already there, just waiting for the approval of the Minister of Trade, we will immediately work," he said at the Office of the Ministry of Trade, Central Jakarta, Monday, July 15.

Bara explained that the formation of the task force was important. Moreover, he said, the issue of illegal imports is considered complicated and many parties have complained about it.

Furthermore, Bara said the task force team would be safe consisting of the Ministry of Trade, the Ministry of Industry, businessmen, associations, Customs and Excise to law enforcers, the Attorney General's Office and the Police.

"This is a very compacted problem and for that we, the Ministry of Trade, are in the process of drafting a task force involving other ministries to address them to be able to handle the illegal goods that come in," he said.

Later, continued Bara, this task force has the authority or authority to conduct inspections of a store or market in order to carry out checks that are suspected of smuggling illegal imported goods.

"Then traced how can this illegal goods enter, then law enforcement will take legal action. This is why the role of law enforcers is very strong and important in this task force," he explained.

Previously, Trade Minister Zulkifli Hasan would form a task force (task force) to oversee illegal imported goods. The formation of this task force is here as an effort to eradicate illegal imports.

The man who is familiarly called Zulhas admitted that he had listened to complaints from the Indonesian Employers' Association (Apindo) and the Shopping Center Retailers and Tenants Association (Hippindo) regarding the rise of illegal imported goods.

"Imports are illegal, later we will be followed up together with associations to make a task force. We will check later on the market for illegal goods to sell, what kind of market," he told reporters, in Jakarta, Monday, July 8.

Zulhas said the task force would later inspect items indicated to be illegal. For example, it is not in accordance with Indonesia's national standards (SNI), and the price is very cheap.

For example, continued Zulhas, imported clothes sold on the market are IDR 50,000. He said the goods were definitely illegal, because imported products entering Indonesia would definitely be subject to an additional tariff of IDR 60,000.

Products that should cost, for example, an entry fee of Rp. 50,000 Rp. 60,000 if the sale is Rp. 50,000, that's strange. Later we will see the goods so that we can find real problems," he explained.