Quarantine Dissolution Needs Budget Certainty

With budget support, the quarantine agency can carry out its functions optimally so as to prevent the transmission and spread of diseases in animal and plant commodities through product trade traffic.

The following article was translated using both Microsoft Azure Open AI and Google Translation AI.

KOMPAS/NIKSON SINAGA

Head of the Agriculture Quarantine Agency Bambang (left) inspects imported pears at the Integrated Physical Examination Site of Belawan Port, Medan, North Sumatra, on Saturday (8/4/2023). Integrated services and digital systems are implemented to reduce waiting time for goods to leave the port.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS – Integrating quarantine agencies from originally existing in a number of ministries to becoming a separate agency requires budget certainty. This budget is a support for the Indonesian Quarantine Agency to carry out its duties and functions in a transparent manner so as to prevent disease transmission in animal and plant products.

The smelting is contained in Presidential Regulation (Perpres) Number 45 of 2023 concerning the Indonesian Quarantine Agency which was promulgated on July 20, 2023. This agency carries out government duties in the field of animal, fish and plant quarantine . The Presidential Decree defines quarantine as a system of preventing the entry, exit and spread of pests and diseases as well as disturbing organisms.

Quarantine also includes monitoring and controlling the food safety system which involves domestic and international areas. The Indonesian Quarantine Agency will be led by a leader and accountable to the President of the Republic of Indonesia.

Also read: Integration of the Quarantine Agency Strengthens Indonesian Trade

According to member of the Indonesian Ombudsman, Yeka Hendra Fatika, the merger will make the quarantine body monitor and inspect the traffic of animal and plant products, such as livestock, exotic animals, and seeds in Indonesia. Until now, the body that carried out quarantine functions was overwhelmed because there were so many entry points for these commodities, both inter-regional and import-export, due to Indonesia being an archipelagic country.

"Integration can strengthen the existence of quarantine institutions as long as it is accompanied by adequate budget architecture because previously they (quarantine bodies) were under the auspices of their respective ministries," he said when contacted on Wednesday (26/7/2023)."

Officers from the Belawan Agricultural Quarantine Center facilitate the export of crab cakes in Medan, North Sumatra, Saturday (25/2/2023). The crab cakes are the first to penetrate the export market to the United States.

With budget support, continued Yeka, the quarantine agency can carry out its functions optimally so as to prevent the transmission and spread of diseases in animal and plant commodities through trade traffic of products. Yeka considered that cases of foot-and-mouth disease in ruminants and African Swine Fever (ASF) in Indonesia can be prevented if the quarantine function runs optimally.

Also read: Anthrax Control Depends on Livestock Traffic Control and Vaccination

Presidential Decree No. 45/2023 also states that the Indonesian Quarantine Agency will involve deputies in the field of animal quarantine, plants and fish. Each deputy is tasked with formulating and implementing technical policies as well as monitoring, evaluating and reporting on quarantine in their respective fields.

One of the technical regulations stated in Presidential Regulation No. 45/2023 is Government Regulation No. 29 of 2023 on the Implementation of Law No. 21 of 2019 concerning Quarantine of Animals, Fish, and Plants. Quarantine officers are responsible for releasing animals, fish, and plants by issuing release certificates for imported products. For export products, quarantine officers issue health or sanitation certificates.

Therefore, Yeka hopes that the merging of the bodies will be accompanied by strengthened transparency that can be accessed by the public to monitor the ongoing quarantine process and its costs. Thus, the transparency can prevent potential "buying and selling" practices of quarantine certificates issued by the quarantine body.

The smelting of the agency goes hand in hand with strengthening transparency that can be accessed by the public to monitor the ongoing quarantine process and its costs.

KOMPAS/M PASCHALIA JUDITH J

Head of Agricultural Quarantine Agency of Ministry of Agriculture Bambang was met in his office in Jakarta, Wednesday (26/7/2023).

In response to the issuance of Presidential Decree No. 45/2023, the Head of Agricultural Quarantine Agency of the Ministry of Agriculture, Bambang stated, smelting the quarantine agency would strengthen efficiency from an institutional standpoint. "The merging (quarantine agency) will unite (the implementation of functions) at one point so that we can move some of the personnel and infrastructure to other places that are still empty," he said when met at his office in Jakarta, Wednesday (26/7/2023).

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As a follow-up action, Bambang said he will prepare supporting regulations as well as technical implementation concepts despite limited human resources. The substance in PP No. 29/2023 can be used as a reference for the implementation of Perpres No. 45/2023. Quarantine implementation will also refer to food safety as well as fast export-import service processes.

Currently, there are 601 quarantine working areas, according to Bambang, a study is being conducted to rationalize the number of working areas while considering the number of human resources. "Adding more working areas does not necessarily mean it is good. What is the use of having many working areas if there are no laboratories for testing and only one or two personnel. The number of 601 working areas can be rationalized to 300 areas with complete infrastructure, laboratories, and competent human resources," said Bambang.

KOMPAS/NIKSON SINAGA

Head of the Agricultural Quarantine Agency Bambang (third from left) looks at integrated quarantine and customs services at Belawan International Container Port, Medan, North Sumatra, Saturday (8/4/2023). Integrated services and digital systems are implemented to reduce the waiting time for goods to leave the port.

The challenge of quarantine function in the midst of international trade needs to be answered through the integration of quarantine into the Indonesian Quarantine Agency. One of them is investment in new laboratories and technologies. The Head of the Fisheries Quarantine, Quality Control, and Safety of Fisheries Products (BKIPM) of the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries, Pamuji Lestari, when contacted separately, stated that several preparations are being made for the integration of fish quarantine functions into the Indonesian Quarantine Agency.

The preparations include structuring the organization and work procedures, organizational business processes, integrating the digital service business processes between the Animal, Fish, and Plant Quarantine with the national system integration (INSW), together with customs and relevant ministries/agencies providing customs services. In addition, revising and integrating regulations and creating new regulations.

According to Lestari, the challenges of quarantine function amid international trade include establishing a protection system that complies with international standards in accordance with the guidelines of the Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS) of the World Trade Organization (WTO).

The agreement regulates WTO member countries to protect their country from the negative impacts of international commodity trading that pose risks to human health, animal resources, fish, plants, and the environment. Another challenge is the emergence of new and dangerous exotic diseases that also threaten the increasingly growing trade.

"The requirements for disease testing on commodities that will be exported, using new types of laboratory methods and technology, require investment and human resource competency," he said when contacted on Tuesday (25/7/2023) evening."

Another challenge is the emergence of new exotic diseases that pose a threat to the escalating trade.

RHAMA PURNA JATI

The joint team of East Sumatra Customs, South Sumatra Regional Police, and Palembang Fish Quarantine Center uncovered a smuggling of 225,664 lobster seeds worth IDR 33.8 billion on Friday (18/6/2021) in Palembang, South Sumatra.

Even though the quarantine function is merging, Lestari continued, the issuance of health certification which is one of the requirements for fishery exports will still be managed by the KKP through the Fishery Products Quality Control and Supervision Agency. Procedurally, fishery exports are preceded by processing health certification, to then be processed by the Indonesian quarantine agency.

Lestari added, a derivative regulation of Government Regulation (PP) Number 29 of 2023 concerning Regulations for Implementing Law Number 21 of 2019 concerning Animal, Fish and Plant Quarantine is being prepared. "There's a lot of substance. We plan to omnibus law (assemble)," he said.

He added that the function of fisheries quarantine at the Indonesian Quarantine Body will continue along with the functions of animal and plant quarantine at the Agriculture Quarantine Body of the Ministry of Agriculture. The merger of animal, fish, and plant quarantine is part of the government's agenda through the national logistics ecosystem and the national strategy for preventing corruption in improving port and airport logistics services. This agenda is carried out with the goal of reducing time and costs through a simplified management strategy.

"The quarantine service, utilization of infrastructure, and human resource management are expected to be implemented under one roof to encourage efficiency," he said.

Separately, the Chairman of the Indonesian Longline Tuna Association (ATLI), Dwi Agus, stated that they are still observing and waiting for the process of merging the Fisheries Quarantine with the Indonesian Quarantine Agency. "We hope that this merger will not obstruct the fish export process," he said.