TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Trade Ministry has announced it has never issued an import permit for ready-to-use gardening hoes. Thus, the existence of any importers would mean an indication of violation.

“We have never given an import permit for hoes. If there were hoe imports, this must be a violation,” said Foreign Trade Director General Indrasari Wisnu Wardhana in a press conference in his office, Central Jakarta, Friday, November 8.

Previously, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo demanded the government’s goods and service procurement to prioritize domestic industries. He lamented the massive imported goods despite domestic industries' abilities to produce them.

During the government’s 2019 National Coordination Meeting of Goods and Services Procurement at the Jakarta Convention Center (JCC), Senayan, Jakarta, Wednesday, November 6, Jokowi mentioned a huge volume of imports of gardening hoes.

Wisnu went on to say that based on the Trade Minister's Regulation No. 30/2018 concerning hand tool imports, finished goods imports were prohibited. Imports were only allowed in the form of raw materials.

Wisnu recalled the Trade Ministry had only passed one license to import raw materials of hand tools, which were sheets of steel weighing 400,000 tons.

Meanwhile, Director-General of Consumer Protection and Business Order Veri Anggrijono said the Trade Ministry had secured several importers suspected of committing violations. They hailed from two cities: Tangerang of West Java and Surabaya of East Java.

DIAS PRASONGKO