Gowes Trend Increases, Government Limits Bicycle Imports

Cycling illustrations. (Angga Nugraha / VOI)

JAKARTA - The government through the Ministry of Trade (Kemendag) issued regulations to suppress imports of two-and-three-wheeled bicycles that enter Indonesia, in line with the increasing trend of riding during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The regulation regarding imports is contained in the Regulation of the Minister of Trade (Permendag) Number 68 of 2020. Not only about the import of bicycles, this Permendag also regulates other consumer goods such as footwear and electronics. This rule was established on August 19 and came into effect on August 28.

Minister of Trade Agus Suparmanto said that this regulation was motivated by the fact that imports of consumer goods increased by 50.64 percent in the period from May to June this year.

"Products (imported) are in the form of tanks, food and beverage, footwear, electronics, and so on. In fact, there are several items whose growth value is above 70 percent. For this reason, the Ministry of Trade needs to regulate imports of these goods," he said, in a written statement received by VOI, Monday, August 31.

Furthermore, Agus said, there are three types of goods groups that are regulated in the Trade Minister's Regulation with a total number of tariff posts / HS of 11 HS.

First, the group of footwear regulated in this Minister of Trade Regulation is rubber soled footwear with HS 6404.11.10, 6404.11.20, 6404.11.90, 6404.19.00, and 6404.20.00. Second, regulated electronics are air conditioning machines with tariff headings 8415.10.10 and 8415.10.90.

Then, third, for bicycles and tricycles that are regulated are tariff posts 8712.00.10, 8712.00.20, 8712.00.30, and 8712.00.90.

At present, said Agus, footwear and electronic commodities are regulated in MOT 87/2015 in conjunction with MOT 28/2020 concerning Provisions for the Import of Certain Products which only require Surveyor Reports (LS) and import document inspection mechanisms to be carried out after passing through the customs area. (post border).

Customs area is an area with certain boundaries at seaports, airports, or other places designated for traffic of goods which are fully under the supervision of the Directorate General of Customs and Excise.

Then, continued Agus, for bicycle commodities previously there was no regulated import trade system. Thus, this Permendag was issued to suppress bicycle imports.

"With the Minister of Trade Regulation No. 68/2020, business actors are required to have an Import Approval (PI) and LS to fulfill the import requirements for these commodities. In addition, the supervisory mechanism has also undergone changes, which was originally carried out outside the customs area (post border). now it is done in the customs area (border), "he explained.

In addition, said Agus, this Permendag also regulates the port of destination that can be used as an entry point. The seaports that can be used are Belawan in Medan, Tanjung Priok in Jakarta, Tanjung Emas in Semarang, Tanjung Perak in Surabaya, Soekarno Hatta in Makassar, Dumai in Dumai, Jayapura in Jayapura, Tarakan in Tarakan, Krueng Geukuh in North Aceh, Bitung in Bitung, Merak Mas in Cilegon, and Kuala Langsa in Langsa.

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For land ports, which can be used is Cikarang Dry Port in Bekasi. Meanwhile, the airports are Kualanamu in Deli Serdang, Soekarno Hatta in Tangerang, Ahmad Yani in Semarang, Juanda in Surabaya, and Hasanuddin in Makassar.

Director General of Foreign Trade Didi Sumedi added, this Permendag also requires importers to submit reports on the implementation of their imports.

"The report can be done electronically, whether it is realized or not every month no later than the 15th of the following month via the http://inatrade.kemendag.go.id page," said Didi.

For footwear LS that has been issued based on MOT Number 87 / M-DAG / PER / 10/2015 concerning Provisions for the Import of Certain Products as amended several times, most recently by MOT 28/2020, is declared to remain valid until the completion of the import by the importer. .

The same is true for electronic LS. For LS for electronics in the form of a temperature control machine that has been issued based on MOT 84 / M-DAG / PER / 10/2015 concerning Provisions for the Import of Goods Based on Cooling Systems as amended several times, most recently with MOT 18/2018, is declared to remain valid until with the completion of the import by the importer.

"Meanwhile, for imports of two-wheeled and three-wheeled bicycles that were shipped before the Minister of Trade Regulation is valid and can be proven by the date of the bill of lading, this Permendag does not apply," said Didi.

For your information, in line with the increasing trend of riding in urban areas, the demand for bicycles has also increased sharply. The Indonesian Bicycling Industry Association or AIPI noted that bicycle sales in April and July 2020 increased by an average of 30 percent compared to sales in the same period last year.

A similar trend has also occurred in almost all countries that have relaxed their lockdown policies. Whereas previously, the bicycle business was sluggish and many bicycle manufacturers had laid off employees.

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