Jakarta, The Indonesia Post – The Minister of Trade (Mendag) Zulkifli Hasan will destroy Rp 10 billion worth of imported used clothes in Mojokerto, East Java.
Before going to Mojokerto, the Minister of Trade will also go to Riau, Pekanbaru, to destroy 900 bales of used clothes with an estimated value of more than IDR 10 billion.
“I will destroy it on the 17th (March) in Riau, Pekanbaru, there are a lot of 900 bales that we want to burn. On the 21st (March) I destroyed up to IDR 10 billion in Mojokerto. In Pekanbaru it is even bigger,” said Zulkifli at the Presidential Palace Complex, Jakarta, Wednesday.
Zulkifli said imported used clothes could pose a health risk to consumers. On the other hand, the massive import of used clothing has also hampered the growth of Indonesia’s MSMEs business.
“It’s not a matter of effort or no effort. It’s a disease. What if people use mushrooms? Infected from which country, which area, the disease is not good,” he said.
Zulkifli admits that there are indeed difficulties in cracking down on the import of used clothes because there are many “rat-roads” to enter Indonesia.
“We are indeed weak, there are many rat roads,” he said.
Because of that, he stressed the importance of cooperation between various agencies in the central and regional governments to suppress the entry of used clothing from abroad.
“The only important thing is the reports from the public. Of course the community is at a disadvantage because the former can be dangerous for fungus, can carry disease. Both can destroy our MSMEs,” he said.
However, Zulkfili did not comment further when asked about Pasar Senen, Central Jakarta, which is known as a center for selling used clothes.
“I don’t know, just give me the data. Yes, we need evidence to follow up,” said the Trade Minister.
Used clothes are goods that are prohibited from being imported based on Regulation of the Minister of Trade Number 18 of 2021 as amended by Regulation of the Minister of Trade Number 40 of 2022 concerning Amendments to Regulation of the Minister of Trade Number 18 of 2021 concerning Export Prohibited Goods and Import Prohibited Goods.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo previously stated that the import of used clothing greatly disrupted the development of the domestic industry.
“I have ordered them to look for it properly and every day or two they have found many. It is disrupting the domestic textile industry,” President Joko Widodo said after attending the inauguration of the opening of the “Business Matching” of Domestic Products 2023 in Jakarta, Wednesday. (mhn/bbs)
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