VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

There are still problems with health and hygiene standards, and the health protocol between Indonesia and Brazil governments

State-owned company in animal husbandry PT Berdikari, admitted that they are still awaiting the recommendation letter from the Ministry of Agriculture to import beef from Brazil in the current year.

The technical requirement of document verification would be done within this week, the President Director of PT Berdikari, Eko Taufik Wibowo, stated after a meeting with Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) in Jakarta, Tuesday. "There are still problems with health and hygiene standards, and the health protocol between Indonesia and Brazil governments," he said.

As and when the recommendation letter is issued, the system will automatically propose to the Ministry of Trade that it could commence beef imports.

PT Berdikari has already set up the auction process and notified the distributors of the price. Thus, 10.000 tons imported beef slated to enter Indonesia in late October could be gradually distributed as per the market’s needs.

PT Berdikari will be ordering the beef early October, its Operational Director Oksan OM Panggabean remarked.

"We need about 50 days to process the order until the arrival, as the shipment from Santos to Tanjung Priok port takes 40 days. It is estimated to arrive in Jakarta in the second week of November. This will be the very first time we will be importing beef from Brazil," he explained.

Government has allocated as much as 10.000 tons as the beef import quota for PT Berdikari, while other BUMNs, Perum Bulog and PT PPI have 30.000 tons and 10.000 tons, respectively.