RI, CHINA AT ODDs OVER FORMALDEHYDE-TAINTED PRODUCTS

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, Aug 6 (ANTARA) - The issue of formaldehyde and mercury-tainted food products came out of the blue in Indonesia and China these two weeks, putting their much-promoted trade ties since recent years at odds.

        "We have to protect the consumers at home and so must China. But there should be no trade war. It would not be good," Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla said on Monday in response to reports that China has taken a 'retaliatory' action, banning aquatic products from Indonesia.

        Reports about China's ban on Indonesian aquatic products came amid sweepings across the country in Indonesia of various Chinese products such as candies, cosmetics and toys believed to have contained chemical substances.

        China's top quality control agency banned on Friday imports of aquatic products from Indonesia, claiming many were found containing toxic substances and disease causing pathogens.

        "Quarantine officials had found Indonesian aquatic products tainted with mercury, chromium, the antibacterial drug nitrofural, and pathogens," the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (GAQSIQ) was quoted by China Daily as saying on Saturday.

        In the meantime, the Indonesian Drug and Food Control Agency (BPOM) issued a list of dangerous Chinese goods known to contain formaldehyde, mercury and other chemical substances.

        Legislator I Made Urip asked the government to take firmer action in protecting the people's health and interest by preventing dangerous food products and other goods, including those from China, from entering the country.

        "The Indonesian people will suffer great losses if they consume dangerous products. The people will suffer from ailments, become unproductive, unable to compete and dumb if they consume such products," I Made Urip, a member of the House of Representatives (DPR)'s commission on food affairs, said here on Monday.

        He said the government's main task was to protect the people, including their health. Urip said Indonesia and China had to meet to discuss the problem of their reciprocal import bans.

        Indonesian Deputy Chief of Mission at the Indonesian Embassy in Beijing Mohamad Oemar said that one should not generalize that all goods from China were tainted with hazardous chemical substances. "We only have to withdraw them from circulation if food products are found to contain formaldehyde," he said, adding that sweeping of products from China in the country would adversely affect the promotion of trade ties between the two countries.

        Lawmaker I Made Urip said that the Indonesian government should step up its overseas lobbies to find a solution but it should continue to give priority to maintaining the people's health and interest.

        He suggested that the government run thorough tests on all Chinese goods, such as foodstuffs, cosmetics and toys.

        Besides, the impact of its measures on the country's economy must also be taken into account carefully because Chinese products had already flooded the Indonesian markets.

        The government should announce the names and brands of goods which contained substances hazardous to health and take firmer action against their importers and dealers.

        "After conducting careful and objective tests on the Chinese products, the government should take action. It should not be afraid of Chinese retaliation because it has to protect its people," he said.

        Maritime and Fisheries Minister Freddy Numberi said meanwhile that China had yet to issue an official notification on its import ban on Indonesian fishery products.

        "The reports that China has banned our fishery products were from the Internet. We have yet to receive an official letter from the Chinese government. We will ask for clarifications on the types of commodities and on the companies which have been banned," the minister said here Monday.

        According to the minister, the Indonesian government would ask China to explain its ban on Indonesian aquatic products, saying that a ban on the import of a certain product from a certain country can only become effective after the exporting country had been officially notified on the ban.

        Chinese General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (GAQSIQ) stated in a circular the tainted aquatic products from Indonesia had been returned or destroyed.

        In the first six months, Chinese officials seized 121 batches of Indonesian foods ranging from aquatic products, palm oil, canned food to biscuits that contain excessive drug residues and food additives and harmful organisms, according to the AQSIO.

        It cited as an example, quarantine officials in the southern province of Guangdong had detected salmonella in frozen sea eels and listeria monocytogenes in frozen fish offal, while officials in the eastern city of Ningbo found forbidden citrine pigment in canned pineapples.

        The GAQSIQ said local quarantine officials had returned or destroyed all the tainted products, without providing details of the brands and quantities of the goods and their producers.

        It urged local authorities to step up quality inspections of Indonesian food imports and urged domestic importers to specify clearly food safety requirements with Indonesian exporters to reduce trade risks.

        In the meantime, the head of the Maritime and Fisheries Ministry's Information and Data Center, Saut P Hutagalung, said the Chinese import ban was an "unfair and unilateral" act. "It has been imposed without prior communication with the Indonesian government as required by propriety," he said.

        Until now, he said, the Maritime and Fisheries Ministry had not yet received any notification on the Chinese ban and its reasons. Besides asking for clarification from China, the ministry would also take a number of steps such as having a coordination with the Foreign Ministry to send a protest to China on its unilateral action, Saut said.

        He said the value of Indonesia's fishery exports to China in 2006 stood at about 150 million US dollars, or 7.2 percent of Indonesia's overall fishery exports.

        Saut said there was no serious problem with Indonesia's fishery product exports to China until reports on the Chinese rejection surfaced.

        On the impact of the Chinese ban, Minister Numberi said Indonesia's biggest market for its fishery products were the United Sates and European countries.

        "But a ban by China, no matter how small in volume, will have an impact on Indonesia's exports," he said.

        But the latest issue is not expected to affect Indonesia-China trade target which is set at US$30 billion in 2010 and at US$20 billion projected to be reached in 2008.

        "If Indonesia's economic growth rate could reach 6 to 7 percent every year, it was believed that the US$30 billion target would be reached by 2010," Sudrajat, Indonesian ambassador to China said here on Sunday. (A014/A/HNG/A/E002) (T.A014/A/A014/A/E002) 06-08-2007 23:02:42