P 250549Z MAR 09
FM AMEMBASSY JAKARTA
TO SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1942
DEPT OF AGRICULTURE WASHINGTON DC
INFO AMEMBASSY MANILA 
AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 
AMEMBASSY WELLINGTON 
USMISSION GENEVA

UNCLAS JAKARTA 000531 
 
 
DU/S PSHEIK 
FAS/OA SHALE, 
FAS/OCRA/BPETLOCK, HIGGISTON, RADLER 
FAS/OSTA/TWESCOT, ATALLEY, EALEXANDER, PTABOR, SSHNITZLER 
FAS/OFSO/WAINIO 
USTR/KEHLERS 
GENEVA FOR MIN COUNSELOR DMILLER 
BANGKOK FOR APHIS/RTANAKA 
CANBERRA FOR AG COUNSELOR GPETTRIE 
WELLINGTON FOR AG ATTACHE SCANDURRA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAGR ETRD ID
SUBJECT: Indonesia's Notified Decree 32: The Names Have Changed but 
Much Remains the Same 
 
Reftel: 2008 JAKARTA 002286 
 
¶1. The Minister of Agriculture replaced two Quarantine Agency 
officials, the Agency Head and the Director of the Center for 
Information and Biosafety within Quarantine. The positions are key 
decision makers for notified Decree 32, which regulates imports of 
fresh foods of plant origin. The Ministry is preparing to move 
forward on the decree despite the personnel changes. Yet despite 
assurances by these two officials, it remains unclear whether the 
decree will impact trade until it is signed and the United States 
food safety system is officially "recognized". End Summary. 
 
The Names Have Changed... 
------------------------- 
 
¶2. Recently, the Minister of Agriculture changed two key decision 
makers for notified Decree 32. The decree places additional 
requirements for imported U.S. fresh foods of plant origin and will 
be implemented by the Center for Information and Biosafety within 
the Quarantine Agency. Quarantine is the agency within the Ministry 
of Agriculture that mitigates the risk of plant pests and animal 
diseases entering Indonesia. Hari Priyono became the Head of the 
Indonesian Quarantine Board on December 19, 2008 and Catur became 
the Director of the Center for Information and Biosafety on February 
11, 2009. The Minister reportedly made the changes because he wanted 
improved coordination between Quarantine and other directorates in 
the Ministry of Agriculture. Neither is as technically qualified as 
his predecessor and both state that the decree should not impact 
trade of U.S. fresh products of plant origin. The Minister tasked 
Catur with gaining consensus for the decree from other areas of the 
Ministry before he would sign it. Catur listens to concerns and 
suggestions even conducting a joint meeting with importers and FAS 
to learn more about the import process. Typically, officials in the 
Ministry do not engage the private sector about new decrees until 
after the decree is finalized. 
 
...But Much Remains the Same 
---------------------------- 
¶3. Requirements in the notified decree continue to cause concern. 
Prior notification is still required in the latest draft, but 
officials changed the time required from at least 3 days in advance 
to up to 2 days before the shipment arrives. The notification must 
include the name and address of the owner, which could be importer 
or exporter; information about the shipment and the product; and the 
source of production. The competent authority in a "recognized" 
country will need to provide a database listing sources of 
production, which officials will check against import documents. At 
this time, Quarantine officials are considering whether information 
contained on phytosanitary certificates or from the industry are 
acceptable alternatives. According to the U.S. industry, the 
requirements in the notification should not pose a problem for 
exporters of fruits from the northwestern United States. However, 
FDA reports that it cannot provide a database of producers. 
 
¶4. Important requirements and terms remain vague. Quarantine 
officials have not yet defined some of the terms in the decree, such 
as whether "source of production" is the state or county, 
packinghouse, or farmer. Neither have officials determined whether 
the notification should occur by fax, e-mail, or other means. It 
remains unclear if Quarantine officials will need to do on-site 
inspections before "recognizing" the U.S. food safety system. 
Officials have not discussed visiting the United States and reports 
are that it has not been discussed internally either. However, 
Indonesian officials discussed a visit to Australia with diplomats 
from that trading partner. 
 
Status of the Notified Decree 
----------------------------- 
¶5. Despite the changes in leadership, the Minister is pushing for 
implementation before October. The Minister sees the decree as 
benefiting Indonesian farmers and wants to see it implemented before 
he leaves when the newly elected administration enters office. If 
the Minister does not sign the decree in the next few weeks, then 
the time between signing and implementation could be shorter than 
the 6 months notified to the WTO. This also calls into question 
whether officials will have time to review the submission on the 
U.S. food safety system and those from other trading partners before 
implementing the decree. If the process is not completed, it could 
mean that U.S. exporters must meet the more onerous provisions of 
the decree, such as food safety certification. The review process 
will not start until after the Minster signs the decree and the USG 
fills out a form Quarantine officials still need to draft. 
 
¶6. Quarantine officials are no longer willing to accept official 
comments on the decree nor are they willing to meet officially with 
USG until they have consensus within the Ministry on the decree. The 
latest draft of the decree will not be notified to the WTO because 
Quarantine officials do not consider the changes to be significant. 
Officials within Quarantine have met informally to ask questions 
from USG officials and the Indonesian trade association. However, it 
is unclear how seriously suggestions are being considered. 
 
Hume