South Kalimantan Quarantine Seals Thousands of Illegal Banana Seedlings Originating from Ngawai

BANJARMASIN - The South Kalimantan Provincial Animal, Fish and Plant Quarantine Office (Kalsel) confiscated and sealed 6,360 sticks of illegal kepok tanjung banana seedlings from Ngawi Regency, East Java (Jatim).

Head of the South Kalimantan Quarantine, Erwin AM Dabuke, said that thousands of banana stem seedlings were confiscated because they did not meet the document requirements in accordance with Article 35 of Law Number 21 of 2019 concerning Animal, Fish, and Plant Quarantine related to the traffic of media carriers (commodities) between areas.

"Everyone who enters and/or removes the carrier media from one area to another area within the territory of the Republic of Indonesia (Republic of Indonesia) must complete a health certificate from the place of issue or origin," he said, quoted by ANTARA, Tuesday, December 16.

As a stern action, Erwin said officers detained thousands of banana seedlings because the entry of the plant seedlings did not comply with the applicable quarantine regulations.

"The enforcement process began some time ago, the Food and Horticulture Seed Inspection and Certification Center (BPSBTPH) of the South Kalimantan Province provided information regarding the entry of thousands of banana seedlings from outside the area without accompanying quarantine documents from the region of origin," he said.

After going through the stages of examination, said Erwin, officers found administrative discrepancies in the request for examination of banana seeds/seeds submitted by the same company (owner) to BPSBTPH.

He said that out of the approximately 10,000 banana seedlings that were recorded to have entered, only about 5,000 were submitted for seed certification testing.

Furthermore, the Law Enforcement Team (Gakkum) and the Kalsel Quarantine Plant Quarantine Team coordinate with BPSBTPH and the Kalsel Provincial Agriculture and Food Security Agency.

From the results of the joint inspection at the banana seed storage location located at the Ulin Runway, Banjarbaru, officers found that there was a discrepancy between the number of seeds and the existing Quarantine documents.

"This has the potential to pose a risk of entering and spreading quarantine plant pests (OPTK)," he said.

Erwin explained that the detention of thousands of banana seedlings was an effort to protect the region's natural biological resources and agricultural sector.

"As a law enforcement measure, officers have sealed all banana seedlings at the shelter to be processed further. This is a lesson for all business actors to comply with regulations for the sake of mutual security," said Erwin.