According to the committee chairman Sarman Simanjorang, the additional beef import quota was very important to provide for the time of fasting (Ramadhan), Eid Fitr and the New Year holiday. He said that the 66% cuts in the beef import quota, imposed by the government in 2012, had resulted in price increases of 38%, as well as a shortage of beef at both distributor and retailer levels.
Simanjorang said: “The current price of beef has risen from IDR65,000/kg to IDR90,000/kg. If it is not alleviated by increasing the beef import quota, the price could reach IDR200,000/kg.”
General secretary of the Indonesian Retail Association Satria Ahmadi confirmed the committee’s claim. He said that, due to the reduction in the beef import quota, beef supply for retail fell by 21%. “And our earnings were down about 11.73%,” he added.
This year, the Ministry of Agriculture set a quota of beef imports at 34,000t. This number was far smaller than last year, when it reached 100,000t. The beef import quota of 34,000t was divided into 22,000t for semester one and 13,800t for semester two.