The Indonesian Textile Association (API) has hailed the move by the government to regulate and monitor the illegal import of textiles and clothing.
API General Secretary Jemmy Kartiwa Sastraatmadja said that the government’s plan of monitoring textile and garment imports will bring relief to the small and medium industries in the sector.
He hoped that government controls would improve production capacity utilisation within the industry and stop the retrenchment of workers due to the closing down of factories.
Recently the Indonesian government announced that it will monitor imports at the customs posts at the border rather than post border or once they are brought into the country.
The government has also tightened standardisation of the textile products imported into the country to ensure cheap textiles and apparel do not enter the country.
The monitoring by the customs department will be done through various measures like checking for import approvals and reports made by customs surveyors.
“By supervising at the border, we will ensure that imported goods do not enter directly into the market, which will be done by monitoring compliance with standards and lists,” a Ministry of Trade official had said earlier.
Most of the monitoring will be done for finished textile products like fabrics and garments rather than textile raw materials which are needed by the industry.
Indonesian textile body hails move to monitor illegal imports
