Indonesia Takes Precautions to Respond US New Fish Import Regulation

Jakarta, 07 Dzulqa’dah 1437/10 August 2016 (MINA) – A senior official at Indonesian trade ministry said on Tuesday that the ministry is now closely monitoring the United States’ plan to apply new regulation based on Seafood Import Monitoring Program (SIMP) as it would significantly affect Indonesia’s fish exports.

“The new regulation through SIMP scheme would likely take into effect on August or September this year. We call on all businessmen working in fishery sector to pertinently pay attention on the new regulation,” Xinhua quoted International Trade Director General at Indonesia Trade Ministry Doddy Edward as saying in his office here.

Doddy said that the SIMP scheme, which heavily adopted from the United State’s maritime agency of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) proposals, highlights fish conservancy issues.

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He added that SIMP was divided into three main requests that consisted of at risk-species classification, traceability and harvesting certification for at risk-species and provision of information regarding the harvested fishes that include the area where the fishes were caught, the type of trawl ship and tools to harvest the fishes, manufacturing process, the transportation and export process.

Doddy said that the United States was a top export destination country for fish export, making the implementation of SIMP was crucial for Indonesia.

Concerns faced by Indonesia regarding the SIMP implementation in the United States were the fact that 84 percent of Indonesian fish and fishery products exports were categorized in at-risk species, Doddy said.

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Besides that, the traceability and harvesting certification was only entitled for the exporter countries, not for local fish businessmen in the United States.

“Another concern was that information on product transportation and export process from port of harvest to port of commerce can only be accessed by the United States authority,” Doddy said, explaining further details of SIMP requirements.

He added that his office has ordered related agencies and fish exporters association in the country to take anticipating moves regarding the SIMP implementation in the United States.

Indonesia’s fish export to foreign countries stood at 3.60 billion U.S. dollars in 2015, in which 40 percent of it, or 1.44 billion U.S. dollars, was exported to the United States.

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Indonesia saw 21 percent decreasing fish export to the United States last year. It exported 1.83 billion U.S. dollars in fish commodities to the United States in 2014.

Besides the United States, Indonesia’s main destination countries for fish exports were Japan and the United Kingdom. (T/R07/R01)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)