Minister Teten Calls The Price Of Imported Goods A Minimum Of 100 US Dollars, This Is The Goal

Coordinating Minister for SMEs Teten Masduki (Photo: Doc. Kemenkop UKM)

JAKARTA - Minister of Cooperatives and SMEs (Menkop UKM) Teten Masduki assessed that there is a need for regulations regarding the minimum price of imported products that enter and are sold in online stores. This is done to protect domestic MSME products from the rise of imported goods in Indonesia.

Adapun rencana harga produk impor yang masuk dan dijual di toko online paling murah sebesar 100 dolar AS atau setara Rp1,5 juta (asumsi kurs Rp15,008 per dolar AS).

"In my opinion, the price must be set at a minimum of 100 US dollars, entry here (Indonesia) is permissible, but if it's below it's not, please, to protect local products," said Teten in a recording received by VOI from the Public Relations team of the Ministry of SME Cooperatives, on Thursday, July 27.

Teten said, there were two important notes made by his party regarding the flood of imported products that made MSMEs bankrupt and how to overcome them. First, online retail that acts through cross-border trade must be prohibited.

He emphasized that there should be no cross-border trade that can be directly accessed by Indonesian consumers. Teten assessed that goods from abroad must go through the import mechanism first, then they can be sold in online stores.

"Because domestic MSMEs have to apply for distribution permits, Indonesian national standards (SNI), halal certification, and so on. Meanwhile, they (import products) do not have to take care of it anymore. It must be prohibited," said Teten.

Second, digital platforms cannot sell personal products. According to Teten, the marketplace should not have the right to own a personal brand or sell goods belonging to a partner company.

"If they sell goods as well, their algorithm will direct them to their products, so consumers in the digital market will only buy products belonging to their business affiliates," he said.

As previously reported, the phenomenon of the TikTok Project S emerged which is claimed to be able to spy on the habits of its users, including shopping matters. It is known, companies from China will use user data to ask Bamboo Curtain Country MSMEs to make these products and market them via TikTok Shop.

Even so, TikTok Indonesia's Head of Communication Anggini Setiawan ensured that the Project S issue was not true.

This was revealed when his party was invited by the Ministry of Law and Human Rights on Wednesday, July 26 yesterday.

"We have given information to the Ministry of Cooperatives and SMEs that it is not true that we have the intention to create our own e-commerce product or to become a whole seller (Project S) who will compete with local sellers in Indonesia," said Anggini at a press conference at the KemenKopUKM Building, Jakarta.

He emphasized that TikTok does not open a cross-border business or cross-border business in Indonesia to protect domestic MSME products.

"It is not true that we will launch an Indonesian cross-border initiative and we are very happy that we can finally convey this directly to the Ministry of Cooperatives and SMEs today," he said.