Jakarta - Coordinating Minister for Food Zulkifli Hasan said the government will limit imports of cassava and tapioca.
Zulkifli said that restrictions on tapioca imports would be discussed in a limited meeting between the Minister of Agriculture Andi Amran Sulaiman and the Minister of Trade niBudi Santoso.
"Like what we banned yesterday, like corn and so on. Therefore, tapioca will be proposed by the Minister of Agriculture to the Minister of Trade and discussed at the limited meeting, so that imports are controlled," said Zulkifli in Jakarta, Friday.
He said that his party would request data related to the number of cassava farmers' harvests and the domestic shortage in order to be able to import.
According to him, this must be done so that domestic cassava farmers' harvests are not eroded by foreign cassava products.
"We have decided, we are just waiting for a letter from the Minister of Agriculture, then it will be submitted to the Minister of Trade to be regulated in the Permendag (Minister of Trade Regulation), then later the import will be regulated in the Lartas (prohibitions and restrictions)," he said.
Meanwhile, Deputy Minister of Agriculture Sudaryono said that cassava commodities are included in the commodity balance, so it will be seen how much import needs there are.
According to Sudaryono, the volume of cassava imports must be regulated to protect domestic products.
In addition, tapioca and wheat imports are also regulated so that domestic farmers can prosper.
"Moving forward, in accordance with the decision earlier, it was also decided in this limited coordination meeting that for the import of tapioca, including wheat, it will also be regulated, regulated by the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Trade," said Sudaryono.