Efforts to eradicate illegal import of used fashion have been started by the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Trade, and the Police of Indonesia.

Jakarta (Indonesia Window) – Minister of Cooperatives and SMEs Teten Masduki and Minister of Trade Zulkifli Hasan have agreed to eradicate illegal imports of used fashion in order to protect domestic textile, apparel and footwear industries and micro, small and middle enterprises (MSMEs).

The agreement between Teten Masduki and Zulkifli Hasan includes efforts to close the upstream sources of importing used fashion, in this case the smugglers who are importers or producers of illegally imported used products, and conduct import restrictions in the field for traders who sell illegally imported used goods.

“We received instructions from President Joko Widodo that among measures to protect MSMEs and textile product manufacturers is to eradicate illegal imports of used fashion. The measures have started from the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Trade, and the Police,"  Teten said at a discussion with Zulkifli regarding the impact of illegal used fashion imports on SMEs in Jakarta on Monday (March 27).

The Ministry of Cooperatives and SMEs, the Ministry of Trade and the Ministry of Finance will coordinate with the Police to close the imports of used fashion in the upstream areas, small sea ports that are often used by smugglers, and storage warehouses. They would then impose the maximum penalty on the illegal importers.

The ban on the import of used fashion is nothing new, as it has been implemented since 2015 through the Trade Ministerial Regulation Number 51 of 2015 concerning the Prohibition of the Import of Used Fashion and the Trade Ministerial Regulation Number 40 of 2022 concerning Amendments to the Trade Ministerial Regulation Number 18 of 2021 concerning Goods Prohibited for Exports and Goods Prohibited for Imports.

Teten emphasized that traders who have already taken illegal goods from imports and sold them are still given a deadline and are allowed to sell the rest.

However, Teten ensured that his ministry and the Ministry of Trade would take firm actions or eradicate illegal activities of smugglers or illegal importers.

Teten further said that he and the Minister of Trade are preparing steps to limit the entry of imported products, so that domestic products are not disturbed by imported ones.

"Currently, the volume of unrecorded imports, including illegal imports of fashion such as clothing and footwear, is very big, which is on average amounting to 31 percent of the total domestic market. It is not too much different from legal imports of clothing and footwear of 41 percent," he noted.

For this reason, Teten said that there should also be consumer literacy in protecting domestic products, as well as knowing the legal risks in selling illegally imported used fashion.

Sharing the same view with Teten, Zulkifli said that his ministry would again destroy around 7,000 bales (sacks) of imported used fashion worth 80 billion rupiahs (1 U.S. dollar = around 15,083 rupiahs) as a result of joint supervision carried out by the Indonesian Police, the Ministry of Finance, and the Ministry of Trade.

Zulkifli stated that the government prohibits the import of used fashion unless it has been regulated and meets the eligibility elements and so on.

He likewise emphasized that the Ministry of Trade together with the Ministry of Communication and Informatics will monitor and prohibit the contents and sales of illegally imported used fashion products on digital platforms (social media, socio-commerce, and e-commerce).

Reporting by Indonesia Window