As Much as 30,000 Tons of Meat Import Quota 2026 Are Allocated to Private Importers

JAKARTA - The government has allocated a quota of 30 thousand tons of beef imports in 2026 for private importers or about 16 percent of the total import quota this year of 297,000 tons.

The Executive Director of the Indonesian Meat Processing and Processing Association (APPDI) Teguh Boediyana revealed that the quota given to the private company was far below the 2025 which reached 180 thousand tons.

According to him, the amount is very heavy and threatens the survival of many companies, because they have prepared themselves with the same minimum figure as last year.

"If there is not enough quota, the consequence will be turmoil and the easiest thing for employers to do is to terminate employment (PHK)," he said, quoting Antara.

Previously, a number of associations that operate in the meat business sector questioned the Ministry of Agriculture's (Kementan) policy regarding the import quota for beef in 2026 which was drastically cut from last year without any explanation from the government.

In the closed meeting, the associations present were APPDI, the Indonesian Animal Protein Entrepreneurs Association (APPHI), the Indonesian Meat Distributor Association (ADDI), and the Indonesian Meat Processing Industry Association (NAMPA).

Teguh added that the import quota policy for meat was actually not in line with the directions and orders of President Prabowo Subianto who asked that there should be no more import quota policy for products that concern the livelihood of many people.

Therefore, he continued, business actors asked for a review of the policy of granting import quotas for beef which is only 16 percent of the total import quota this year without any notification or socialization to business actors.

Meanwhile, APPHI's representative, Marina Ratna DK explained that the Ministry of Agriculture had issued an import quota of 297,000 tons for 2026 consisting of 100,000 tons of buffalo meat from India, 75,000 tons of beef from Brazil, and 75,000 tons of meat from other countries, all of which were given to SOEs, namely PT Berdikari and PT Perusahaan Perdagangan Indonesia (PPI).

Meanwhile, the private companies, which numbered 108 companies, he added, consisting of 74 old companies and 34 new companies, only received 30,000 tons while the remaining 17,000 tons were quotas for industrial meat.

"We met with the Ministry of Agriculture to ask the government for an explanation as to why the quota for the import of regular beef was only 30,000 tons this year for more than 100 meat importers. However, last year the import quota given by the government reached 180,000 tons," he said.

In addition to the drastically reduced quota volume, Marina also stated that entrepreneurs were only given two types of meat and meat products that could be imported from the many types of meat and meat products that could be imported according to the HS code.

"So, each company is only given two HS codes. This means that out of the eight HS codes that we have submitted, only two HS codes have been approved," he said.

According to Teguh and Marina, in addition to the Ministry of Agriculture, his party is also ready to hold meetings with the Ministry of Trade and the Coordinating Ministry for Food related to the 2026 meat import quota.