GOVT URGED TO POSTPONE BUFFALO IMPORT FROM INDIA

 by Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, July 15 (Antara) - The Indonesian Buffalo and Cow Breeder Association (PPSKI) has asked the government to postpone its plan to import buffalo meat from India this month because that country is still not free from foot-and-mouth disease.          PPSKI Chairman Teguh Boediyana said in Jakarta on Tuesday that his organization has sent a letter to Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Darmin Nasution and to Trade Minister Thomas Lembong, asking them to postpone plans to import buffalo meat from India.     "We, the executive of the PPSKI, implore that the government should put off its plan to buy buffalo meat, or at least delay the distribution of such meat to the market," he added.          In the letter, a copy of which was also received by Antara, the PPSKI listed a number of reasons for its demand. It said importing animal and/or ruminant animal products from a country which is not yet free from foot-and-mouth disease, was fraught with risks.          "If such a dangerous animal disease was to enter the country, it will pose a threat to the buffalo and cow breeding sector at home. It will also threaten other even-toed animals such as goats, sheep and pigs," he warned.            Teguh stressed that currently, the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) has declared Indonesia as free from the foot-and-mouth disease. In the meantime, the OIE Resolution No. 15, May 2016 stated that India is now categorized as being among countries which have not yet been free from the foot-and-mouth disease.          Indonesia as a country free from the disease without organized vaccination will have its status changed from free to not free from the disease if it imports cattle or cattle products from countries declared not free from the disease.          "It will impact and hamper Indonesia¿s efforts to export various products to countries with a disease-free status when it comes to foot-and-mouth disease, such as Japan and South Korea," he cautioned.          According to Teguh, import of low-priced buffaloes will disturb the cow breeding business in the country. It will lead to waning of interest and will discourage breeders at home to raise cows. In the long run, it will eventually make Indonesia a net beef importer.         The result of the 2013 agricultural census conducted by the Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS) showed that at present, there are 5.5 million families of cattle breeders.         The current high price of beef is inseparable from the failure of the government in becoming self-sufficient in beef production.         He pointed out that the beef reliance programs in 2010 and 2014, on which, according to the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), Rp18 trillion have been spent from the state budget, have failed. Now, over 50 percent of the beef required in the country has to be imported. As a consequence, the price of both frozen meat and feedlot could not be separated from the local currency rupiah exchange rate vis-à-vis the US dollar.          "If Indonesia becomes self-reliant in beef, we will not be importing the commodity and it will have no impact on the exchange value of the rupiah which keeps fluctuating against the greenback," he argued.          According to Teguh, the rather pragmatic policy will further help President Joko Widodo¿s determination to make Indonesia self-reliant in beef in 2016.          Therefore, his organization appealed to the government to do its best so that the interests of local cattle breeders can be safeguarded.       He reminded that Article 36 of Law No. 4L/2014 on the amendment of Law No. 18/2009 regarding Cattle Breeding and Animal Health is undergoing a judicial review at the Constitutional Court, under registration No. 129/PAUXIII/2015.          Article 36 of the law is the legal basis cited by the government to import animals and ruminant animal products from a zone of a country which is considered free from the foot-and-mouth disease.         A final verdict of the Constitutional Court is awaited.              In the meantime, Research, Technology and Higher Education Minister M. Nasir is conducting research on ways to improve cattle productivity and reduce cow imports by 15 to 20 percent.        "If we develop and apply the researched methods well, I believe we will be able to reduce cow imports by 15 to 20 percent in five years," Nasir remarked at the presidential office last month.     Minister Nasir stated that he had conducted the research project using a sample of Bali cattle weighing an average of 250 kilograms and which can weigh up to 500 kilograms with a particular treatment.         But, he said, if the sample had involved Sumba cattle weighing 250 to 300 kilograms on average, the treatment could increase their weight to between 700 kilograms and one ton.         The minister added that the research had started in 2010 and was expected to be applied in the field in 2016.        The research was conducted in West Java, Central Java, East Java, Bali, West Nusa Tenggara, East Nusa Tenggara, and Sulawesi, with promising results.***3***(A014/INE) EDITED BY INE(T.A014/B/BESSR/A. Abdussalam) 15-07-2016 22:32: