The Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) has asked the government to provide a grace period for businesses in the implementation of the Indonesian Minister of Trade Regulation No. 36 of 2023 on Import Policy and Regulation, related to the preparation stage for the implementation of the limited ban regulation.

Vice Chairman of Kadin Indonesia for Trade Juan Permata Adoe, said that Kadin Indonesia as the parent of all business associations in Indonesia has received various inputs from affected sectoral associations.

Regarding the readiness of infrastructure and supporting regulations, Kadin calls for the electronic system and all implementing regulations related to MOT 36/2023 to be ready at least 3 to 6 months before the implementation of this regulation.

"This is necessary to accommodate the surge in licensing applications and to provide adequate time for all parties involved to fulfil the provisions of the regulation," said Juan in a Kadin statement, Friday (23/2/2024).

Juan said, the related Electronic System will only be operational on 10 March 2024, as well as some supporting regulations that serve as guidelines for obtaining Technical Approval will only be socialised in the near future.

"In this case, we urge the need for an additional grace period of 3 to 6 months after the related electronic system and all implementing regulations are available and socialised to all relevant stakeholders to ensure supply chain stability and ensure the sustainability of the domestic production process," he said.

In addition, Kadin Indonesia also emphasised that the previous regulation can still apply to shipments with Bill Lading (BL) before 10 March, this is needed to accommodate in transit shipments or shipments that are on the way.

"Policies related to in transit shipment are very important for the sustainability of the production process and can affect the achievement of industrial productivity," he explained.

This is because industry players must pursue production targets to fulfil needs, both domestic and export without pause. Currently, the challenges faced by the priority industrial sector are quite high, which can be seen from the Export Performance where the achievements of the processing industry sector and also mining, for example, are under negative pressure.

"Constraints in fulfilling needs can lead to lost opportunities or even further loss of world market share," he said.

According to him, ease of doing business and an ecosystem that supports increased competitiveness are very important. It is expected that there will be no additional costs such as demurrage that will cause business actors to lose competitiveness.