KKP Immediately Brings Indonesian Cultivation Fish To Saudi Arabia Market

Head of the Quality Control and Supervision Agency for Marine and Fishery Products (Badan Mutu) KKP Ishartini. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (KKP) will immediately bring Indonesian cultivation fish to the Saudi Arabian market as an effort to expand the export market and increase the competitiveness of Indonesian fishery products in the international market.

Head of the Marine and Fisheries Quality Control and Supervision Agency (Badan Mutu) of the KKP Ishartini in Jakarta, Saturday, March 22, said that his party together with the Food and Drug Supervisory Agency (BPOM) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Kemlu) succeeded in fighting for the interests of the marine and fisheries sector through bilateral diplomacy with Saudi Arabia.

He said that the approval of Saudi Arabian competent authorities for the export of Indonesian aquaculture products was only a matter of days. These indications appear in negotiations between competent authorities of the two countries in a virtual bilateral meeting (VBM).

"We completed the VBM with the Saudi Food and Drugs Authority (SFDA) and Alhamdulillah the negotiations went smoothly and the SFDA was confident and satisfied with the data presented by Delri (Delegation of the Republic of Indonesia-ed) related to the implementation of quality assurance upstream-downstream fishery," he said, quoted by Antara.

According to him, the success was the result of the hard work of diplomacy and synergy with the KKP, BPOM and of course the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in carrying out technical approaches or through the diplomatic channel.

"The KKP Quality Agency and the Directorate General of Aquaculture have prepared the materials needed as part of the technical compliance," he said.

Previously, Indonesia and Saudi Arabia had bilateral agreements in the field of food quality guarantee with an authorized competent authority for Indonesia, namely BPOM and executing party for the quality and safety guarantee system of fishery products (SJMKHP).

Until now, the number of Indonesian fisheries companies registered with the SFDA is 58 units, however, the product from aquaculture is still constrained by the competent authority's approval to enter the Saudi Arabian market.

The export data for Indonesian fishery products to Saudi Arabia in 2022 2024 is dominated by skipjack products, tuna, lemuru processed in the form of canned fish, while other products include shrimp crackers, kerapu, tenggiri, cockatoos, terasi and various other products.

In 2024, the export volume of fishery products to Saudi Arabia is 22,000 tons with a value of 91 million US dollars.

"We get fresh air from Saudi Arabia, among others, they claim to receive corrective action that we convey, as well as parallel to the SFDA standard compliance process, which will release approvals for products from aquaculture", explained Ishartini.

So far, agricultural fishery products that have international standards and are ready to enter the Saudi Arabian market to meet the needs of the Arab, hajj and umrah communities are shrimp, tilapia, catfish and catfish.

Previously, Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Sakti Wahyu Trenggono stated that his party continues to boost the production of aquaculture through several leading commodities or champions that can dominate the global market.

In addition to the production weight point, Minister Trenggono also focuses on ensuring the quality and diversification of export destination countries to expand and expand the Indonesian fishery market.