The domestic textile and apparel industry still faces major challenges due to the global economic slowdown. The Industrial Confidence Index (IKI) survey for September 2023 showed that the textile industry and the apparel industry were two subsectors in contraction. One cause of the contraction in these subsectors is the large volume of imported goods circulating domestically.
The Ministry of Industry (Kemenperin) therefore regrets the auction of imported textiles and textile products (TPT) categorized as State-Owned Goods (BMMN). “Auctions of BMMN in the form of TPT products need to be coordinated with Kemenperin. This is to control the flow of TPT products that do not comply with SNI or come from illegal imports, so they do not enter the domestic market,” Kemenperin spokesperson Febri Hendri Antoni Arif said in Jakarta on Tuesday (3/10).
For context, the Directorate General of Customs and Excise of the Ministry of Finance, through the Tanjung Priok Type A Main Customs Service Office (KPU BC), auctioned imported TPT products. According to media reports, the products auctioned included textile waste, various trousers, clothes, tablecloths, sofa covers and pillowcases, as well as baby footwear and socks.
Febri said that, given the variety of TPT products auctioned, it should be checked again whether they are illegal imports. “If they are illegal imports, Kemenperin proposes that the auctioned goods be destroyed so they do not disrupt the domestic market, especially if mandatory SNI already applies to those products,” he said.
The ban on circulating imported products that do not comply with SNI also refers to Government Regulation No. 2/2017 on the Development of Industrial Facilities and Infrastructure and Minister of Industry Regulation No. 45/2022 on Industrial Standardization.
The suspected illegal imports relate to the recent flood of similar goods in the domestic TPT market. The entry of these products has been proven to threaten TPT products made by the domestic industry. Febri therefore believes the right action for these imported products is destruction.
Source: Press Release of the Ministry of Industry of the Republic of Indonesia