Indonesia May Extend Wheat Flour Import Tariff

Indonesia may extend its temporary 20 per cent wheat flour import tariff by at least three years, an industry group said on Feb. 15, 2013, as Asia's largest importer of the grain looks to protect domestic mills against the threat from subsidised imports.

Indonesia imposed an emergency tariff on wheat flour imports for 200 days on Dec 5 to allow the government to complete an investigation on imports and the impact on domestic mills. "They will impose a duty of one, two or three years," Franciscus Welirang, chairman of Indonesian Wheat Flour Mills Association (APTINDO), told Reuters, adding that the government is investigating whether wheat flour imports are subsidised.

"The association expects that it will be proven," said Mr Welirang, who is a director at Indofood Sukses Makmur, the world's biggest noodle maker. Two months before Indonesia introduced the wheat flour import tariff, Mr Welirang told Reuters in an interview that a 20 per cent charge was on the cards.

The Indonesian trade ministry was unavailable for comment on Feb. 15, 2013.