Minister Of Industry Agus Gumiwang Promises To Dismantle Used Shoes Illegal Import Scandals At Batam And Jakarta Markets

Minister of Industry, Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Industry (Kemenperin) promised to immediately uncover the dispute over the import of used shoes at Batam Market to Jakarta Market.

This is due to a video of the investigation results of one of the journalists in Singapore, who revealed that a number of used shoes from the country were donated by their owners for the sustainability project, but it turned out to end up in the markets in Indonesia.

Minister of Industry (Menperin) Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita said the import practice had to be stopped immediately because it had a bad impact on the domestic footwear industry.

"This incident shows that illegal imports of used shoes are carried out in an organized manner and misuse of social projects. The Ministry of Industry cannot act alone to fight this illegal import activity," he said in a press statement, Monday, March 6.

He said that his party had carried out further coordination with the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs (Kemenko Perekonomian) regarding the problem of illegal imports and increasing supervision of imported goods to the smallest ports.

In addition, his party has also coordinated with the Ministry of Trade (Kemendag) in the context of drafting lartas for TPT products, as well as proposing additional articles on the obligation of business actors to list K3L and NPB goods registration numbers or SNI on the appearance of electronic trade, for TPT products and footwear subject to the obligation of the Minister of Trade Regulation Number 26 of 2021.

Furthermore, the Ministry of Industry proposes that the import of footwear products should still be carried out in borderers and proposes the provision of Government Borne Import Duty (BMDTP) incentives for imports of raw materials and auxiliary materials for local footwear products.

To continue to improve the competitiveness of the footwear industry in Indonesia, which is a labor-intensive industry and becomes the foundation of the community, Agus continued, his party continues to strive to maintain the industry, such as strengthening supply chains and working on the potential for the footwear industry in the domestic market.

"In addition, for small and medium industry players (IKM) on foot, the Ministry of Industry continues to encourage product development programs in which there is technology development, as well as marketing promotion market access programs for export-oriented footwear IKMs," he added.

For your information, the Ministry of Industry through the Indonesian Footwear Industry Empowerment Center (BPIPI) has brought together large industry players with footwear IKM to partner and collaborate so that they can fill a potential market.

The video referred to by the Minister of Industry Agus stated that initially the Singaporean people donated their used sports shoes through donation boxes in public places.

It was stated that the shoes would be recycled into playgrounds and running tracks. A journalist installed tracking equipment on several of the shoes he donated. However, the results of his tracking show that the shoes are sold at the centers of selling used shoes in Batam and Jakarta.