Prohibiting Social E-Commerce, Government Regulates Fair Trade for Online and Offline

Menkop UKM Teten Masduki (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - The government wants to regulate fair trade between online (e-commerce) and offline trade.

For this reason, Minister of Cooperatives and SMEs (MenkopUKM) Teten Masduki explained that the government is revising Minister of Trade Regulation Number 50 of 2020 concerning Provisions for Business Licensing, Advertising, Development and Supervision of Business Actors in Trading Through Electronic Systems.

"We are still regulating fair trade between offline and online because offline is so strictly regulated, but online is still free. "The key is revising the Minister of Trade Regulation," said Teten after a meeting chaired by Indonesian President Joko Widodo (Jokowi), citing Antara, Monday, September 25.

Therefore, said Teten, according to President Jokowi's direction, the Ministry of Trade (Kemendag) will implement new provisions in the revised Minister of Trade Regulation Number 50/2020.

Some of the new provisions, said Teten, are a strict separation of social commerce and electronic commerce (e-commerce) platforms.

Then, on the e-commerce platform, the minimum permitted transaction for imported goods is 100 US dollars.

Apart from that, said Teten, the government will also create a "positive list" or goods that are allowed to be imported and marketed through "e-commerce".

Currently, said Teten, there are many products from abroad that are marketed both online and offline, which are sold very cheaply and have an impact on domestic MSME products.

Minister of Trade Zulkifli Hasan said the Ministry of Trade (Kemendag) would sign the new regulations as a result of the revision of Regulation of the Minister of Trade Number 50 of 2020 this Monday afternoon.

One of the important new provisions from the revised Minister of Trade Regulation is the government's "social commerce" platform to facilitate trade transactions.

"Social commerce" platforms may only promote goods or services, but are prohibited from opening transaction facilities for users.

"'Social commerce' can only facilitate the promotion of goods or services, no direct transactions, no direct payments, no more, it can only promote," said Zulhas, the Trade Minister's nickname.