WT/DS506/1, G/L/1145  
G/SPS/GEN/1486, G/LIC/D/50,  
G/TBT/D/49, G/AG/GEN/130  
7 April 2016  
(16-1958)  Page: 1/4  
  Original: English  
 
 INDONESIA - MEASURES CONCERNING THE IMPORTATION OF BOVINE MEAT 
REQUEST FOR CONSULTATIONS BY BRAZIL 
The following communication, dated 4 April 2016, from the delegation of Brazil to the delegation of 
Indonesia and to the Chairperson of the Dispute Settlement Body, is circulated in accordance with 
Article 4.4 of the DSU.  
_______________ 
  My authorities have instructed me to request cons ultations with the Government of the Republic of 
Indonesia ("Indonesia") pursuant to Articles 1 and 4 of the Understanding on Rules and Procedures 
Governing the Settlement of Disputes, Article XXI I:1 of the General Agreement on Tariffs and 
Trade 1994 ("GATT 1994"), Article 11 of the Ag reement on the Application of Sanitary and 
Phytosanitary Measures ("SPS Agreement"), Arti cle 6 of the Agreement on Import Licensing 
Procedures ("Import Licensing Agreement"), Article 14 of the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade ("TBT Agreement") and Article 19 of th e Agreement on Agriculture ("Agriculture 
Agreement") concerning certain measures imposed by Indonesia on the importation of meat from 
cattle of the species Bos taurus, hereinafter referred to as bovine meat. 
For the past years, Brazil has undertaken efforts to gain access to the Indonesian bovine meat 
market. Despite Brazil's best endeavours to obtain approval for the importation of Brazilian bovine 
meat into Indonesia's territory, Indonesia has maintained and adopted restrictive rules and 
procedures which effectively prohibit or restrict Br azilian bovine meat from entering the Indonesian 
market. Indonesia does so through a general meas ure imposed by means of a positive list and 
through the specific measures indicated below. 
(a) General measure Indonesia’s restrictive measures are imposed through a combination of legal instruments, 
administrative actions and omissions that result in an import ban on certain bovine meat products 
(secondary cuts, offal and carcass); in a quantitative restriction on other bovine meat products (prime cuts); and in an evident discrimination between Brazil and other suppliers of these products. 
(b) Specific measures 
Indonesia imposes prohibitions or restrictions on the importation of bovine meat through (1) the 
maintenance  by   Customs of positive lists that do not include several Harmonized System codes 
for bovine products; (2) the imposition of quar terly import quotas, randomly defined by the 
Indonesian authorities, which  represent a quantitative restriction on  the importation of products authorized in the positive lists; (3) discriminatory assignment of the mentioned quota among 
importers; (4) sanitary measures which are not based on international standards, guidelines or 
recommendations nor are scientifically justified, and which are also more restrictive than necessary for achieving a given appropriate level of protection; (5) technical regulations applied in a discriminatory manner and (6) non-transparent and restrictive import licensing requirements.  
In addition, Brazil has reason to believe that in connection with these restrictions there are other 
measures and regulations adopted by Indonesia which appear to further constrain Brazilian 
exports of bovine meat, such as: importation of bovine meat is prohibited when domestic  WT/DS506/1 • G/L/1145 • G/SPS/GEN/1486 • G/LIC/D/50 • G/TBT/D/49 • G/AG/GEN/130 
 
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  production is deemed to be sufficient to fulfill domestic demand; imports of certain animals and 
animal products are prohibited or restricted when  the prices of those products fall below certain 
reference prices; importation is only allowed to certain types of use; and there are trade-restrictive rules regarding shipping, warehousing, and transportation. 
Brazil takes issue in particular with the fact that Indonesia only accepts imports of bovine meat 
from countries that have their entire territory de clared as free of Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD), 
r e g a r d l e s s  o f  t h e  f a c t  t h a t  b o v i n e  m e a t  f r o m  d i s e a s e - f r e e  s t a t e s  o r  r e g i o n s ,  w i t h  o r  w i t h o u t  
vaccination, holds the same sanitary status. By failing to adopt the principle of regionalization, 
Indonesia imposes a de facto prohibition on the importation of Brazilian bovine meat into its 
territory, by means of a sanitary measure that is against the relevant international standard and guideline governing the issue, without any sort of scientific justification or without being based on 
a proper risk assessment. Furthermore, the measure is more trade-restrictive than necessary to 
achieve the appropriate level of protection, and does not recognize pest- or disease-free areas.  
Brazil also understands that Indonesia adopts technical regulations concerning the halal condition 
of bovine meat which are less-favorable to the products of foreign origin. While Brazil has no issue 
in what concerns the international standard for halal products in itself, it is concerned with the 
different treatment bestowed on bovi ne meat from different origins. 
With regard to the import-licensing regime, Indonesia unduly restricts the access to its market of 
bovine meat through a non-transparent and intricate process. It requires at least five formal steps: (i) "Trade Operation Permit" (SIUP), as foreseen in MoT Regulation 36/2007; (ii) "Certificate of Customs Registration" (SRP), established by the Decree of the Minister of Finance 
number 454/KMK.04/2002, as amended by De cree of Minister of Finance number 
549/KMK.04/2002; (iii) "Importer Identification Number" (API), defined in MoT Regulation 48/2015; (iv) "Recommendation from the Minister of Agriculture", as provided for in MoA 
Regulation 58/2015, according to Article 10 of Re gulation 05/2016; and (v) "Import Approval from 
the Minister of Trade", according to Article 9 of MoT Regulation 05/2016. 
These licenses and recommendations - with strict deadlines - may restrict the ports of entry of the 
imports, and are not administered in a transparen t manner. Brazil understands that Indonesia has 
failed to comply with notification obligations and publication requirements under the Import Licensing Agreement and the GATT 1994, thus creating trade-restrictive and distortive effects on imports of bovine meat, which add to the inconsistencies with WTO obligations maintained by 
Indonesia.   
The laws, regulations and decisions through which Indonesia imposes and administers these 
measures in a manner that affects Brazil’s rights under the WTO include, but are not limited to, 
the following legal instruments, as well as any further regulations, complementary provisions, 
amendments, replacements, related or implementing measures. 
• Minister of Finance Decree No. 454/KMK.04/2002 on Registration of Importer as 
amended by Minister of Finance Decree No. 549/KMK.04/2002 ("MoF 
Decree 454/2002"); 
• Law of the Republic of Indonesia No. 16 of 1992 Concerning Animal, Fish and Plant 
Quarantine ("Law 16/1992"); 
• Law of the Republic of Indonesia No. 8 of 1999 Concerning Consumer Protection 
("Law 8/1999) 
• Government Regulation No. 82 of 2000 on Animal Quarantine ("GR 82/2000"); 
• Minister of Religious Affairs Decree No. 518 of 2001 on the Procedures for Auditing and 
Stipulating Halal Food ("MoRA 518/2001"); 
• Government Regulation No. 28 of 2004 on Security, Quality and Nutrition of food 
("GR 28/2004"); WT/DS506/1 • G/L/1145 • G/SPS/GEN/1486 • G/LIC/D/50 • G/TBT/D/49 • G/AG/GEN/130 
 
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  • Minister of Trade Regulation No. 36/M-DA G/PER/9/2007 on the Issuance of Trading 
Business License, as amended by Minister of Trade Regulation No. 46/M-DAG/PER/9/2009, and lastly by Mini ster of Trade Regulation No. 39/M-
DAG/PER/12/2011 ("MoT Regulation 36/2007"); 
• Law of the Republic of Indonesia No. 18 of 2009 on Husbandry and Animal Health 
("Law 18/2009); 
• Minister of Agriculture Regulation No. 13/Permentan/OT.140/1/2010 Concerning 
Requirements for Ruminants Slaughterhouses and Meat Cutting Plants ("MoA 
Regulation 13/2009"); 
• Decision number 137/PUV-VII/2009 of the Indonesian Constitutional Court, adopted on 
27 August 2010. 
• Government Regulation No. 95 of 2012 on Veterinary Public Health and Animal Welfare 
("GR 95/2012"); 
• Law of the Republic of Indonesia No. 18 of 2012 concerning Food ("Law 18/2012"); 
• Decision of the Ministry of Agriculture Concerning Importation of Animal and Animal 
Products from the United States of Amer ica No. 4390/Kpts./PD.620/2013 ("Decision of 
MoA 4390/2013"); 
• Minister of Agriculture Regulation No. 65/Permentan/PD.410/5/2013 ("MoA 
Regulation 65/2013"); 
• Minister of Trade Decree No. 699/M-DAG/KEP/7/2013 on Stabilization of Cattle (Sapi) 
Meat Price ("MoT Decree 699/2013"); 
• Law of the Republic of Indonesia No. 19/2013 Concerning the Protection and 
Empowerment of Farmers ("Law 19/2013, Farmer's Law"); 
• Law of the Republic of Indonesia No. 7 of 2014 Concerning Trade ("Law 7/2014"); 
• Law of the Republic of Indonesia No. 41 of 2014 amending "Law Number 18/2009" 
Concerning Animal Husbandry and Animal Health ("Law 41/2014"); 
• Law of the Republic of Indonesia No. 33 of  2014 concerning Halal Product Assurance 
("Law 33/2014"); 
• Minister of Trade Regulation 48/M-DAG/PER/7/2015 ("MoT Regulation 48/2015"); • Minister of Agriculture Regulation 58/Permentan/PK.210/11/2015 ("MoA Regulation 
58/2015"); 
• Minister of Trade Regulation No. 70/M-DAG/PER/9/2015 ("MoT Regulation 70/2015"); 
• Minister of Trade Regulation No. 87/M-DAG/PER/10/2015 ("MoT Regulation 87/2015"); • Minister of Trade Regulation No. 05/M-DAG/PER/1/2016 ("MoT Regulation 05/2016"). 
Indonesia's measures appear to be inconsistent with Indonesia's obligations under the following 
provisions of the covered agreements: 
i. Articles I:1, II:1, III:4, III:9, VIII:1(c), VIII:3 X:3(a) and XI:1 of the GATT 1994; 
ii. Articles 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 5.1, 5.2, 5.4, 5.6, 5.7, 6.1, 6.2, 6.3, 7, 8 and 
Annex C of the SPS Agreement;  WT/DS506/1 • G/L/1145 • G/SPS/GEN/1486 • G/LIC/D/50 • G/TBT/D/49 • G/AG/GEN/130 
 
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  iii. Articles 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4, 5.1 and 5.2 of the TBT Agreement; 
iv. Articles 4.2 and 14 of the Agreement on Agriculture; 
v. Articles 1.3, 3.2 and 3.3, 5.1 and 5.2 of the Import Licensing Agreement. 
Brazil reserves the right to raise further factual and legal claims in the course of the consultations. 
We look forward to receiving your reply to the present request and to fixing a mutually convenient 
date for consultations. 
 
 
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