Imported Malaysian Sausages Threaten Local Industries

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Employers are worried about the import surge of Malaysian processed meat over the last three years. Ishana Mahisa, chairman of the Indonesian Meat Processing Industry Association (Nampa-Indonesia), said that in the long run this condition could endanger the survival of the domestic industry.

According to the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), the average price of sausages imported from Malaysia is US$2.29 per kilogram, or less than Rp30,000. Meanwhile, the price of locally-made sausages of the same quality is Rp60,000 per kilogram.

Ishana said that the import price of processed meat of the 1601 HS group (sausages and other processed meat) has increased by 18 times from 2012's US$305,000 to US$5.26 million in 2014. Of the import value, 85.73 percent of comes from Malaysia.

"The import surge is a serious warning," Ishana said at the Ministry of Industry, yesterday.

By volume, imported sausages from Malaysia in 2014 reached around 2 million kilograms, far above the domestic production capacity of 300,000 tons per year.

According to Ishana, Malaysian sausages have low prices because they are made from beef purchased from India, which is cheaper than the Australian meat Indonesian industries use. The price of Indian beef is about Rp30,000 per kilogram while Australian meat costs more than Rp60,000 per kilogram.

Haniwar Syarif, executive director of Nampa-Indonesia, said it is unfair that Agriculture Regulation No.84/2013 prohibits local meat industries from using Indian meat, yet the import is not banned.

Abdul Rochim, the Industry Ministry's director of food, sea produce and fisheries industry, said his directorate general has been in contact with relevant ministries to discuss the matter.  

AMIRULLAH