REPORTS emanating from the Jakarta Post indicate the Indonesian government will further restrict imports of frozen meat, in what could be seen as a further indication of the commitment to achieving self sustainability in beef by 2014.
According to the Jakarta Post article, the Indonesian government has set itself the goal of cutting frozen meat imports by 34,000 tons in 2012 – "and further, when possible".
Australia’s exports of frozen beef to Indonesia totaled 5,389 tonnes swt to May 2011.
The article continued:
“We will stop importing once local stocks are sufficient for local consumption,” Suswono [Indonesia's Minister of Agriculture] said in Wonogiri, Central Java, on Tuesday.
Indonesia’s frozen meat imports were 90,000 tons in 2011, down from 120,000 tons in 2010, according to Suswono.
The government previously said it would also reduce live cattle imports to 280,000 in 2012, down from 400,000 in 2011 and 600,000 in 2010.
Indonesia reduced its live cattle imports by nearly a half in 2011 due to an increase in local supply, according to officials - and not in retaliation against Australia’s ban on cattle exports to Indonesia.
The Agriculture Ministry announced that domestic cattle growers produced 14.7 million head of livestock last year, more than the nation’s target of 14.5 million for 2014.
Indonesia currently imports live cattle from Australia, New Zealand, the US and Canada.