Encourage Regulatory Protection, Deputy Head Of DPR: Import Milk For Farmers We Are Increasingly 'Fluted'

Photo by Carolien van Oijen on Unsplash

JAKARTA - Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives Cucun Ahmad Syamsurijal highlighted the protests by dairy farmers who felt aggrieved by imported milk. Cucun encourages the Government to protect local breeders and the dairy industry in Indonesia.

"The government must ensure that the policies implemented are fair and transparent. Farmers must have the same opportunity to sell their milk production without discrimination or unfair restrictions," said Cucun Ahmad Syamsurijal, Wednesday, November 13.

According to Cucun, the government cannot only focus on the mandatory local milk absorption policy for the processing industry, but also ensures strict supervision of the quality of milk from upstream to downstream.

"How the existing policy shows that the State is here to protect our breeders and advance the dairy industry in the country," he said.

As is known, dairy milk farmers in various regions launched protests by bathing in milk to getting rid of dairy for free because the industry was accused of preferring to use imported milk.

Control from the Government is considered less because the tap for milk imports is widely opened and there is no tax for milk from abroad. Exporters to Indonesia such as New Zealand and Australia take advantage of the free trade agreement (FTA) so that the price of imported milk is 5 percent cheaper than local milk.

Even though the milk imported is powder milk or skim which is of high quality under fresh cow's milk because it has gone through various kinds of heating or ultra-processes.

Through the Regulation of the Minister of Agriculture Number 33 of 2018, the Government has actually set an obligation for dairy processing companies to cooperate with community farmers to absorb dairy cow's milk. However, the facts on the ground show that companies that have partnerships with local breeders do not reach 20 percent of the total number of dairy processing business actors.

The applicable rules are not implemented due to a lack of supervision. The government must really oversee this partnership so that the company increases the use of milk from local breeders. Give sanctions if the rules are not implemented," said Cucun.

The chairman of the DPR, the coordinator of the people's welfare sector (Kesra), also encouraged the Government to be able to maintain the sustainability of the domestic dairy farming sector. According to Cucun, this also protects consumers from the risk of quality dairy products.

"It is necessary to strengthen the evaluation and supervision of regulations in this dairy trading system. So that no one else feels aggrieved," he said.

This problem began to arise when the large number of local farmer's milk that was not absorbed by the industry resulted in losses due to a lot of wasted milk. One of the reasons why dairy processing entrepreneurs do not absorb local farmers' milk is because the quality of the milk produced does not comply with the company's standards so they limit the use of local milk.

Usually, local milk is distributed from farmers to farmer groups and then to Village Unit Cooperatives (KUD), then to the processing industry. The presence of this milk locater is accused of being the cause of the decline in the quality of local milk because it does not have adequate storage facilities. Not to mention that the locater also offers a higher price than the KUD so that it further disrupts the existing system.

"This condition shows that the regulation and supervision of the institution responsible for maintaining the quality of milk from upstream to downstream has not been effective," said Cucun.

"It's a pity for the breeders, the increase in imported milk has made our local breeders even more 'extorted'. And keep in mind, our food sovereignty will not progress when farmers and breeders lack support," continued Cucun.

Currently, domestic milk production is only able to meet around 21 percent of the national demand, so the remaining 79 percent of imports. This is due to the low productivity of small-scale breeders.

Therefore, Cucun encourages the Government to increase programs that boost domestic production.

Mainly for small-scale breeders. Guidance to them must be increased. Not only does it encourage local breeders to have priority to ensure the best quality of milk, but also the form of distribution of distribution also needs to be facilitated by the Government," he explained.