December 6, 2005

 

Indonesia still allows Brazilian soymeal imports

 

 

Indonesia's Ministry of Agriculture confirmed Tuesday that soymeal imports were still allowed from Brazil, despite the discovery of footh-and-mouth disease there.

 

Syamsul Bahri, director of animal health at the ministry, said Brazil could still export soymeal to Indonesia because it was not affected by an import ban on Brazil's livestock-related commodities enforced Oct 14.

 

"We have clarified the issue with Brazil," said Bahri. "There must have been a misunderstanding about the ban."

 

The ministry sent a letter of clarification to the Indonesian embassy in Brazil Nov 29, signed by Mathur Riady, director general of livestock.

 

The government banned imports of animal feed and meat byproducts from Brazil, after the World Organisation for Animal Health issued a report Oct 9 on the discovery of foot-and-mouth disease in the southern state of Mato Grosso do Sul.

 

Commodities from Brazil affected by the ban include livestock, dairy and meat products and animal byproducts such as leather and horns, as well as animal-based fertilisers.

 

The ban also covered animal feed made from ruminants such as meat bonemeal and blood, as well as green animal feed. It also covered pharmaceutical products, including animal-based vaccines and veterinary medicine as well as used farm machinery.

 

"Based on the list, imports of new farm machinery, pharmaceutical products that aren't made from ruminants and pigs, as well as grain-based feedmeal such as corn and soybeans are allowed," Riady said in the letter.

 

Brazil threatened to challenge the ban last month at the World Trade Organization in Geneva.

 

Foot-and-mouth disease cannot survive in temperatures over 50 deg C, and to crush soy into meal requires temperatures above 100 deg C.

 

However, Bahri said Indonesia was maintaining the ban on imports of meat-based animal feed and meat byproducts from Brazil, until further assessment by the World Organisation for Animal Health on the status of the disease.

 

Indonesia does not import beef products from Brazil but imports soymeal for livestock feed from the country.

 

Between January and October, Brazil exported 449,000 tonnes of soymeal to Indonesia valued at US$88 million, according to data provided by the Brazilian Oilseeds Association.

 

In September 2004, Indonesia banned livestock-related commodities from Brazil due to foot-and-mouth disease, including animal feed and dairy products, but lifted it two months later.