Ministry Of Trade: Of The 49 Companies, Only 23 Exporters Of Swallow's Nest To China Have Certificates

The Deputy Minister of Trade, Jerry Sambuaga, handed over the SKA to the North Sumatra swallow's nest exporter. (Photo: Antara)

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Trade said that only 23 companies that have export certificates for swallow's nest to China are the biggest buyers of this commodity.

"Of the 49 companies that have registered as holders of ET-SBW (Registered Exporter for Swallow's Nest), only 23 have obtained swallow's nest export certification to China," said Deputy Minister of Trade, (Wamendag), Jerry Sambuaga in Medan, as reported by Antara, Monday , 9 November.

The Vice Minister of Trade has been in North Sumatra since Saturday, to release exports of swallow's nest and processed cassava products and to have a dialogue with coffee exporters.

The Ministry of Trade hopes that all swallow nest export companies have export certificates to China so that the export volume will increase.

Moreover, said Jerry, Indonesia has long had a collective agreement in setting product hygiene standards.

Particularly in the export of swallow's nest, since 2012, Indonesia and China have signed the Hygiene, Quarantine and Inspection Requirements Protocol for the importation of swallow's nest products from Indonesia to China.

Jerry Sambuaga reminded that the trend of health and hygiene requirements will increase in the future in line with public awareness of this issue.

Health and hygiene standards often become a non-tariff barrier in trade.

To that end, the Ministry of Trade and related ministries have anticipated various trade agreements, both bilaterally and multilaterally.

In these agreements there is also a mechanism to increase the capacity of business actors to meet product health standards in the buying country.

"The increase in exports has not stopped due to the COVID-19 pandemic and this can be proven by the ongoing export of swallow's nest. Even Indonesia's foreign trade as a whole is already in surplus," he said.