Trade Minister Still Permit Issuer Of Industrial Salt Imports
7 August 2015 08:06 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta- Trade Minister Rachmat Gobel said in Jakarta, Thursday, August 6, that he refused to release the authority to recommend import permits for industrial salt to the Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries.
“It will further hamper the bureaucracy if she do not understand the industry,” he said.
However, Minister Gobel welcomed Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Susi Pudjiastuti to be one of the import permit recommendation issuer of consumer salt.
Gobel claimed that he has issued import licenses for consumer salt, but he will re-examine the consumer salt import licensing.
Meanwhile, Minister Pudjiastuti had asked President Joko Widodo to be involved in in the salt import licenses recommendation issuance. She wanted to protect local salt farms from of imported salt traders. She named seven companies that are importing consumer salt.
The Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Sofyan Djalil agreed that salt import policy had to be controlled. According to him, currently there is enough consumer salt and there is no need to import.
Sofyan said, in the future the government will improve and invest in new salt fields in East Nusa Tenggara to meet the needs of industrial salt.
ALI HIDAYAT