TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta:The Ministry of Agriculture claims the national beef supply is currently in surplus and the increase in beef prices in the market is not due to a lack of supply. "Rising beef prices are not solely related to demand and supply, but psychological factors also influence the market and the global food situation," said Ministry of Agriculture official Syukur Iwantoro told Tempo on Monday. He guaranteed that until the first semester of 2012, the supply of beef in the country would remain in surplus. According to records, the remaining stock of imported meat in the first semester based on the monitoring of 21 meat importer warehouses as of July 26, 2012, was 694 tons. The amount includes 572 tons of meat and 121.9 tons of offal. "This excludes the allocation of the second half of 8,000 tons, a small number of which has just entered the harbor," he said. In addition, the government has also regulated an additional allocation of 7,000 tons of imported meat to meet the needs of industry, which is now in the process of distribution. There are 124,027 calves in cattle feedlots and a supply of 25,750 local cows. Of that amount, the stock of cattle production centers in 11 provinces comprises of 821,123 animals. "So there is a surplus," he said. According to him, to prevent the illegal entry of smuggled meat, the government will step up surveillance at entrances and distribution points in cooperation with customs. In addition, to ensure that imported meat is disease-free, animal health certificate from the country of origin are required. As reported, the Meat Importers Association of Indonesia (Aspidi) said the reduction of import quotas could lead to the potential import of smuggled meat. High meat prices will encourage certain people who sell smuggled meat at lower prices. The meat is usually not from countries that the government allows to enter Indonesia, such as New Zealand and Australia. The two countries require importers to show the import license from the government before shipping. "Anyone selling meat at lower prices than the market price could be suspected of importing smuggled meat," director of the Association of Meat Importers, Thomas Sembiring, told Tempo yesterday. ROSALINA