Calling for import quota, 50 containers of frozen fish arrived without the license

17 January was a trembling day for most seafood importers in Indonesia, as 50 containers of imported fish landed in several ports in Indonesia, with no single quota.

One of the biggest food importers from Jakarta said that the importers dared to confirm loading for all the bought fish during mid to late of Dec from the POL due to a rush with Chinese festival and stocks shortage in Indonesia. Owning 6x40 FCL of pacific mackerel delivered from China, the importer said their parcel landed at the Jakarta seaport on 16-17 January 2022. However, it has not been released due to the quota unavailability from the government.

As establishing an online system for most of the services is one of the 2022’s agendas of the Indonesian Government, the authorities were aligning the 3 different associated sources for seafood export and import, including the Ministry of Marine Affairs & Fisheries Republic of Indonesia (KKP), Customs, and most importantly, Tax Department.

Yet, the online migration of the service has not run as smoothly as expected. The delay of the online service for the import undoubtedly has caused some pending import quota issuance. Even though some containers have been released at the end of the week, many containers are being delayed, causing more demurrages and another cost risk at the POD.