Used Clothes Imports Continue To Fill The Domestic Market, Believed To Increase In Ramadan Period

Illustration (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA – The Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS) found that imports of used clothing from abroad to Indonesia are still continuing to this day.

The latest data shows that in the first two months of 2023, the import value of the commodity coded HS 6309 rose from US$1,965 in January to US$5,501 in February.

This condition is believed to continue to increase in line with the surge in demand during Ramadan. At least the same pattern was recorded in April 2022 when imports of HS 6309 approached the US$200,000 mark with a volume of around 13.3 tonnes.

In fact, used clothing itself is an item that is prohibited from being imported based on Minister of Trade Regulation Number 18 of 2021.

The policy was then updated with the Minister of Trade Regulation Number 40 of 2022 concerning Amendments to the Minister of Trade Regulation Number 18 of 2021 concerning Export Prohibited Goods and Import Prohibited Goods. Regarding this situation, President Joko Widodo also opened his voice.

"It is very disturbing, the import of used clothes is disturbing. It is very disturbing for our domestic industry," said the Head of State as previously reported by VOI.

Furthermore, BPS data also reveals that imports of used clothing have continued to fill the domestic market in the past decade. The peak occurred in 2019 when the import value of HS 6309 reached more than 6 million dollars with a volume of 417.7 tons.