June 14, 2011

 

Indonesian government ensures beef supply ahead of Ramadhan

 

 

The Indonesian government has reiterated its confidence that Indonesia's beef supply will be sufficient in the lead up to and throughout Ramadhan, despite a temporary ban on imports from Australia.

 

"God willing, Ramadhan and the lead up to it will be fine. I think our current stocks will be enough," Deputy Agriculture Minister Bayu Krisnamurti said on Monday (Jun 13).

 

Australia, Indonesia's main import source of live cattle, halted exports to Indonesia following television broadcasts showing brutal treatment of cows at several Indonesian slaughterhouses.

 

The move came in the lead up to the Islamic holy month, when beef is usually in high demand.

 

"We still have more or less 150,000 head of cattle from the last shipment from Australia. We also have 10,000 tonnes of frozen beef and around one million head of local cattle," Bayu said.

 

However, if the local supply of beef is insufficient, the government will not hesitate to look for other sources abroad, Bayu added.

 

"If we do need to import, given the current situation with Australia, we will look to other countries," Bayu said.

 

"In the past, we have usually imported frozen beef from Australia, New Zealand, and the US. So we'll look at those options," he added.

 

Indonesian beef industry heads said they worked to ensure that the suspension would not affect local supply. Dayan Anthoni, the head of government relations and business development at PT Santori, a large-scale company that runs cattle feed lots, said a shortage may be felt after Idul Fitri in late August this year.

 

He said the current stock of live cattle was about 150,000, which was enough for about four months.

 

Imported cattle covered 20% of the national beef demand, he said on Monday in Lampung.

 

Bayu also said that Indonesia would need to wait at least two to three weeks for Australia to lift its ban on live cattle exports.

 

"Realistically speaking, it looks like the cattle trade will resume in two to three weeks at the earliest," Bayu said on Monday.

 

Bayu said the Australian Deputy Secretary for Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Phillip Glyde, told him he hoped trade could be "reopened as soon as possible".

 

However, Bayu said both countries needed to reach a new agreement. "There must be an agreement on standards for animal welfare. For this, we will be referring to the international standard set by the UN," Bayu said.