INDONESIAN BUSINESSES MUST ABIDE BY NEW RATTAN EXPORT REGULATION

Jakarta, Aug 27 (ANTARA) - Businesses must abide by a new regulation on rattan exports issued by the trade minister, if rattan industries at home (Indonesia) are expected to develop, a furniture businessman said.

"Rattan industries in the country will develop well, if they really implement the trade minister's new regulation in the best possible way," chairman of the Indonesian Furniture and Handicraft Association (Asmindo), Ambar Tjahyono said here on Wednesday night.

The government has issued Trade Minister's Decree No. 36/M-DG/PER/8/2009 in an effort to tighten procedures for rattan exports so that supplies to rattan industries at home would be guaranteed.

He said that the trade minister's decree accommodated many of Asmindo's aspriations. "This will make our rattan industries more competitive," he said.

Ambar expressed hope that the implementation of the regulations would be supervised tightly. Supervision on the implementation of the obligation to supply raw materials to industries should also be tightened.

He said that though the regulation had accommodated many aspirations from Asmindo, its implementation still needed a technical guidance (Juknis).

Ambar said that a matter regarding sanctions needed attention, namely a sanction to be taken against a company which owned two business licenses as a registered rattan exporter (ETR) and as a registered forestry industrial product exporter (ETPIK).

"There must be firm sanctions against companies which own two licenses of that type," he said.

He said that companies having two licenses could misuse them. "The disadvantage is not in term of the rupiah value but in the fact that it could cause rattan industry to be less competitive," he added. **2***