TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Agriculture observer with the Bogor Institute of Agriculture (IPB) Hermanto J. Siregar reminded the government about the importance of having accurate food data to formulate sound import policies.

Hermanto expressed his appreciation to the Trade Ministry for deregulating exports and imports. However, he emphasized on the food data accuracy.

"If the data was wrong, the policy could be wrong too," Hermanto asserted.

Hermanto also reminded the government to be careful in importing horticultural and food products, so that they would not harm local farmers. Therefore, he suggested the Trade Ministry to conduct impromptu inspections and take random samples to assess the quantity and quality of imported food.

However, Hermanto said that the government should also be careful in removing the verification requirements for surveyors in terms of rice, steel and oil and gas commodities.

"[The government] should not let the deregulation to be interpreted as a policy to facilitate import activities," Hermanto explained.

Hermanto pointed that the removal of food import data verification was a risky move, as it could cause data mismatch and lack of guarantee for quality expected from imported products. He also expressed his concerns that the deregulation could harm farmers by allowing uncontrolled imports.

ANTARA