The textile and textile product industry complains that the large number of illegal products flooding the domestic market makes it difficult for their products to win the competition. Director of Industry, Textiles, Leather and Footwear of the Ministry of Industry (Kemenperin) Adie Rochmanto Pandiangan said his party had made various efforts to strengthen the domestic market. However, the swift import of illegal, especially used clothing and shoes is not the realm of the Ministry of Industry. "This is not my [business], ask how about Customs and Excise, what about the Indonesian National Police, why did they get away with it," said Adie at the Ministry of Industry's Office on Tuesday (28/2/2023).
Meanwhile, according to Adie, the Ministry of Industry has recommended various policies to related parties who hold authority, in this case the Ministry of Trade (Ministry of Trade) as well as the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs (Kemenko Per Ekonomi).
Adie also said that after making a suggestion, his party was not responsible for the sustainability of the proposal, including the imposition of a limited ban (lartas) because it was not under the authority of the Ministry of Industry.
He also claimed that the Ministry of Industry had made various efforts related to strengthening the domestic market for this domestic industry, in the form of optimizing the level of domestic components and applying Indonesian national standards (SNI).
"Then ask the Coordinating Ministry for the Economy as the coordinator, please go there. I can only strengthen TKDN and SNI," he added.
As previously reported by Bisnis.com, based on the results of a Reuters investigation, Indonesia turned out to be a paradise for imports of used clothes and shoes. The majority of used clothing and shoes products come from Singapore.
Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA) policy adviser Dharmesh Shah said the large market for imported used clothing was because Indonesia did not have strict rules for this matter. "The flow of cheap and unregulated used clothes," said Dharmesh, Tuesday (28/2/2023).
According to him, used goods imported from various countries, especially Singapore, actually have a very small percentage that can be reused, so that it will add to the waste problem in the destination country.
Moreover, when interviewed by Reuters, two traders who sell their wares at the Batam used goods market said that traders usually buy goods in sacks, without knowing for sure the contents of the sacks.
Thus, it is not uncommon for traders to throw away more than half of the contents of the sacks they buy, because they are not fit for sale. Regarding the import of used shoes, Reuters found an answer why Indonesia could be flooded with these used products. Initially, Reuters conducted an investigation into the recycling of used sneakers for the manufacture of playgrounds and running tracks in Singapore, which was initiated by the Singaporean government and US-based chemical company, Dow Inc. In this recycling program, Reuters donated 11 pairs of shoes.
However, the shoes that had hidden tracking devices installed were actually caught traveling across the ocean to several cities in Indonesia, to be re-marketed. After investigating, it turns out that these shoes were able to reach the Indonesian market through the hands of Yok Impex Pte Ltd, a Singapore exporter of used goods.
