President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) now allows the industry to import industrial salt and sugar directly. That way, no more imports are carried out by intermediaries or third parties. So far, industries that need industrial sugar and salt have to buy through importers. Later, the industry does not need to buy through intermediaries. This was disclosed by the Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Panjaitan after a limited meeting on Monday (10/5).
"The president agrees that industries for food and industries that need industrial salt, they import directly. With a recommendation from the Ministry of Industry," said Luhut. Luhut said that the Ministry of Industry would later list which industries would be allowed to import industrial sugar and salt. The Ministry of Industry will also record details of the sugar and salt needs of each industry. "I think it will be made by Pak Agus Gumiwang. It will later be published to the public so that the public will monitor the amount (the amount of salt and sugar needed by the industry)," said Luhut.
On the same occasion, Minister of Industry Agus Gumiwang said that his party would apply a fairly strict verification mechanism. The verification is related to the amount of sugar needed by the industry. "We use and cooperate with third parties, so we hope the verification results will be objective," he said. He emphasized that he would not allow imported raw materials to be sold into the market, thus disrupting the selling price of farmers. Agus stated that there are strict sanctions for industries that sell imported raw materials to the free market. "We will give very strict sanctions to industries for which we have granted industrial raw material import permits, but are used to penetrate the market," said Agus.
