24Jan2001 INDONESIA IMPOSES 10%-75% LUXURY TAX ON CONSUMER GOODS.
The Indonesian government Wednesday said it imposed a luxury tax ranging from 10% to 75% on 41 items of imported consumer goods effective early January.
The Finance Ministry said it has imposed a 10% luxury tax on beverages and small-sized televisions and refrigerators, a 20% tax on refrigerators with capacity above 230 liters, sports equipment and toy products.
Commercial vessels and other water vehicles and medium-sized television units will be taxed at 30%.
The ministry said it will impose a 40% tax on alcoholic drinks, leather products, power boats and video games.
A 50% tax will be imposed on imported commercial helicopters and airplanes, golf clubs, pistols, and large-sized television units.
Alcoholic drinks with between 26% and 80% of alcohol proof and all goods made up with jewels, and yachts will be taxed at 75%.
22Jan2001 ALMOST 99 PCT OF BALI'S VANILLA EXPORTS REACH US MARKETS.
Almost 99 percent of Indonesia's vanilla products exported through Bali, find their way to the United States, head of Bali plantations office Nengah Sriana said Friday.
The smooth export to the US markets shows that Indonesia's vanilla products are known among US consumers, she said.
She said the vanilla exports in 1999 stood at 98 tons, 9 tons which were produced by local farmers, worth US$1.6 million.
Vanilla exports to the US in 2000 was recorded at only 10 tons worth US$335,000 due to a disease that hit some plantations.
19Jan2001 INDONESIA IMPOSES 'HALAL' DEMAND ON IMPORTED FLOUR.
Indonesia will require all imported flour to carry 'halal' certificates, meaning the product is fit to be consumed by Muslims, Trade and Industry Minister Luhut Pandjaitan said on Friday.
"The government has agreed that all imported flour must have a halal certificate in a bid to protect local customers," Pandjaitan said. He gave no timeframe.
Indonesia imported 500,000 tonnes of flour in 2000.
Flour is a basic ingredient for noodles, which are one of the country's staple foods.
The issue of 'halal' products has become sensitive in the world's most populous Muslim nation.
The local unit of Japanese taste enhancer Ajinomoto Co Inc recently had to recall its products after a government-affiliated Muslim organisation said the products were not fit to be consumed by Muslims.
12Jan2001 TARIFFS SLASHED
Thailand has removed 100 items which were previously on the general exclusion list, which will result in the products' tariffs slashed to a maximum of 20%. Previously, tariffs for some of the products were as high as 60%. By 2003, Thailand will slash the tariffs for the 100 items to a maximum of 5%. Among the products which will see their tariffs slashed are: alcoholic drinks, tobacco substitutes and cigarettes. Separately, Singapore has shifted 120 products from the general exclusion list to the inclusion list, effectively slashing their tariffs to nil. Among the products which have been placed on Singapore's inclusion list are: passenger cars, motorbikes, beer, petroleum products, whisky and seasonings. The move by Singapore and Thailand will see both countries no longer having any items on the exclusion list. The move is in line with the Southeast Asian free-trade pact.
12Jan2001 CABINET BANS EU BEEF IMPORTS
The cabinet has directed an immediate ban on beef imports, beef-related products, and feedmill containing cattle extracts from European Union (EU) countries, following the spread of the mad cow disease there.
The 16 countries affected by the temporary ban are Britain, Ireland, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Italy, Austria, Finland, Greece, Luxembourg and Switzerland.
Health Minister Datuk Chua Jui Meng said the ban follows a World Health Organisation (WHO) warning to all countries on the spread of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), commonly known as mad cow disease.
So far, 180,000 head of cattle have been infected with BSE. Its brain-wasting human form, variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD), has infected 87 people in Britain, three in France and one in Ireland, he said.
Chua, who earlier attended the Pan Malaysian Pools Festival Charity Programme 2001, said the prohibition will continue until "WHO assures us that the products are safe for consumption".
He said a temporary ban had to be imposed to ensure that local livestock are safe from BSE, and Malaysians from vCJD.
The ban on feedmills containing meat and bone-meal taken from cattle in the affected countries is for the cattle industry and all animal husbandry industries, including fish, chicken and goats.
Chua said the self-replicating protein, thought to be the cause of BSE, is so stable that it cannot be destroyed by deep freezing, drying and cooking.
He said that for the first 10 months of last year, Malaysia imported RM11.08 million worth of beef and beef-related products from the EU, which represents 2.58% of total imports.
Most of the products are from India, Australia and New Zealand.
"A task force comprising the International Trade and Industry Ministry, the Veterinary Services Department, the Malaysia External Trade Development Corp, customs, the Health Ministry and the private sector, has been set up," he said.
"It will ensure that the products are off the shelves, as well as request Universiti Sains Malaysia to source for the technology to identify BSE in order to prevent local cattle from being infected."
Chua said the recalling of products started a few days ago, and the ministry's food quality control division is monitoring the situation. A BSE hotline (03-2555943) has also been set up.
The Malaysian Retailers Association said it has not received any directive from the domestic trade and consumer affairs or the health ministries to list the banned products.
A month ago, the Consumers Association of Penang urged the two ministries to ban meat and meat products from BSE-affected countries.
It said it will notify retailers to remove the products from the shelves only after receiving a directive.
It warned of the spread of the "mad cow" disease in Europe and that a ban had been imposed by France and Britain on meat and bone-meal in livestock feed as a precautionary measure.Asked if the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry will help ensure that the products are off the shelves, Chua said he will ask the task force to bring them in.
18Jan2001 MUSLIM CONSUMERS' BODY CALLS FOR 'HALAL' CERTIFICATION AGENCY
The Indonesian Muslim Consumers Foundation (YLKM) has called for the establishment of a national standardization agency to issue halal certificates indicating that a product is fit for consumption by Muslims.
YLKM chairman Bambang Sabar Irawan said on Wednesday that such an agency could reduce irregularities in the issuance of certificates, which is at present solely handled by the Indonesian Ulemas Council (MUI).
Bambang also questioned MUI's credibility in assessing whether or not a product or service is halal or haram (not allowed according to Islamic law) as it does not have an independent laboratory.
"MUI does the auditing, while the labeling itself is in the hands of the Ministry of Health. It has happened many times that a business has concocted the audit result and deceived the council in order to get a halal label for its products.
"So it's necessary to reform the system, mechanism and the regulation on certification," he told a media briefing as he announced the foundation's plan to sue taste enhancer producer PT Ajinomoto.
YLKM's lawyer Maheswara Prabandono from Warens and Achyar Law Firm said that the foundation was demanding that the company pay punitive damages to Muslims.
Ajinomoto taste enhancer was recalled after the MUI questioned its production process which uses an extract derived from pigs instead of from cows to develop an enzyme needed in the manufacturing of monosodium glutamate (MSG).
Islam forbids the consumption of pork or its byproducts.
He said that since the company had begun using the enzyme before renewing its product certificate, Ajinomoto had violated Consumer Protection Law No. 8/1999.
"In our opinion, Muslims have been deceived by Ajinomoto," he said, adding that the lawsuit would be filed next week.
Bambang said he money would be used to establish an independent laboratory to ensure that a product was edible or could be used by Muslim consumers.
Source: Reuters News Services and various news reports.
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