A total of 7,363 bales of used clothes worth IDR 80 billion were destroyed in Cikarang, Bekasi Regency, West Java, on Tuesday (28/3). This decisive action was taken in order to protect the domestic textile industry and the micro, small and medium enterprise (MSMEs) industry. Symbolically, the Minister of Trade Zulkifli Hasan, the Minister of Cooperatives and Small and Medium Enterprises Teten Masduki, the Head of the Criminal Investigation Agency (Bareskrim) of the National Police Komjen Pol Agus Andrianto, the Director General of Customs and Excise of the Ministry of Finance Askolani, and representatives from the Attorney General's Office burned the used imported clothes. together.

The evidence destroyed was the result of a law enforcement operation by Bareskrim Polri and the Directorate General of Customs and Excise of the Ministry of Finance at the Pasar Senen and Pasar Kramat warehouses in Central Jakarta, as well as the warehouse in Tarumajaya, Bekasi Regency.

Trade Minister Zulkifli explained that the government is prioritizing decisive action from upstream. This is because, based on data from the Ministry of Cooperatives and SMEs, imports of used clothing already control 31 percent of the MSME market. For this reason, the import of used clothing must be regulated.

"We emphasize once again, selling used clothes is permissible and selling imported goods that have been regulated is permissible, what is not permissible is selling imported used clothes. This is because the import of used clothing disrupts the textile and footwear industry, so it must be addressed immediately," said Zulhas, his nickname to journalists, Wednesday (29/3).

Explained by the general chairman of PAN, based on Article 18 of the Minister of Trade Regulation 20/2021, every importer is required to import goods in new condition. However, in certain cases, goods imported in a non-new condition may be stipulated as capital goods which have not been fulfilled from domestic sources in the framework of the industrial production process or in the context of recovery and rebuilding as a result of natural disasters.

Meanwhile, used clothing is an item that is prohibited from being imported based on the Minister of Trade Regulation 40/2022 concerning Amendments to the Minister of Trade Regulation 18/2021 concerning Export Prohibited Goods and Import Prohibited Goods. Import of used clothing has been prohibited since 2015 through Permendag Number 51/M-DAG/PER/7/2015 concerning the Prohibition of Importing Used Clothing.

Business actors who are proven to be importing used clothes into Indonesia can be subject to criminal sanctions based on Article 112 Paragraph (2) of Law 7/2014 concerning Trade with a maximum imprisonment of five years and/or a maximum fine of IDR 5 billion, as well as Article 62 Paragraph ( 1) Law 8/1999 concerning Consumer Protection which carries a maximum imprisonment of five years or a maximum fine of Rp. 2 billion.

"In addition to criminal sanctions, goods can be subject to administrative sanctions in the form of destroying goods based on Article 41 of the Minister of Trade 36/2018," said Zulhas.