September 16, 2015

Indonesia urged to consider Colombian beef imports

An official of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) said Indonesia should consider the offer of Colombia to supply beef to reduce its dependence on Australian cattle imports.

Jocobus Dwihartanto, Kadin chair for South American Affairs, said on the sidelines of the Colombia-Indonesia Investment Summit on Monday, September 14, that Colombia had "asked for beef export access to Indonesia because their mainstay export is beef", according to the Indonesian state-owned Antara News.

He said, however, that at this point, the Indonesian government does not have an immediate response since it will have to consider the zoning regulation applicable to cattle importing nations, which mandates that the imported cattle/meat must be free from the foot-and-mouth disease.

"In this case, we cannot say anything yet as we are still waiting for deregulation," he was quoted as saying.

He added that Colombian beef imports were worth considering to lessen Indonesia's beef dependence on Australia.

"We could consider the offer even if we still do not know the price of beef in Colombia. It would be good for us to reduce our dependence on Australia," he said.

Indonesia is the No. 1 importer of Australian live cattle, and last year Australia's cattle exports to Indonesia rose 63% to 730,257 head.