Instant Coffee National Standard Into Force in 2016

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta-The government will impose the Indonesian National Standard (SNI) for instant coffee beginning in January 2016, later than the initial plan in July 2015 because of some unready preparations.

“The testing center is not ready, the equipment [preparation] also needs time," said Director of Beverage and Tobacco Directorate General of Agro Industry Ministry Faiz Ahmad on Thursday, October 1.

Faiz added that the SNI was postponed because some processed coffee products are already in circulation and it takes one year to run out on the market.

He said the government imposed compulsory SNI for instant coffee since there are many low-quality imported instant coffee in the market, some are even mixed with coffee skin.

“We have to protect domestic consumers. So, imported instant coffee must comply with SNI. This is fair, both for domestic and export products,” said Faiz.

Instant coffee product is coffee powder or granules or flakes produced from the coffee roasting process without the mixture of other materials followed by milling, extraction, and drying.

ANTARA