. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/LIC/Q/IDN/9/Add.1 
29 January 2009 
 (09-0416) 
Committee on Import Licensing Original:   English 
 
 
 
IMPORT LICENSING SYSTEM OF INDONESIA 
 
Questions from the UNITED STATES to INDONESIA  
  
 The following communication, dated 27 January 2 009, is being circulated at the request of the 
delegation of the United States. 
_______________ 
 
 
 The United States expressed concern about I ndonesia’s import licensing regime for sugar 
during the meeting of the Committee on Import Licensing Procedures on 20 October 2008.  The United States also posed questions to Indonesia, ci rculated in document G/LIC/Q/IDN/9.  Thailand 
posed similar questions in document G/LIC/Q/IDN/10.   To date, Indonesia has not circ ulated responses to the Committee.  We therefore reiterate our 
concern about Indonesia’s import licensing system fo r sugar and request that the Government of 
Indonesia provide meaningful responses to the qu estions raised in G/LIC/Q/IDN/9 as soon as 
possible.  Indonesia continues to reject import license applications, deepening our concerns.  Reflecting these concerns, we submit the following additional questions.  
1. In G/LIC/Q/IDN/6, in reply to questions from Australia, Indonesia indicated that regulations 
establishing import licensing procedures for sugar ar e contained in Decree No. 643/MPP/Kep/9/2002, 
dated 23 September 2003. 
• Has Indonesia notified this regulation to the Committee, as required by Article 5 of the 
Agreement?  If not, why not?  When does Indonesia plan to do so? 
 
• Is this regulation still the primary basis of I ndonesia’s import licensing regime for sugar?  Are 
there other regulations, amendments, or decrees that establish administrative procedures as a 
precondition for the importation of sugar into Indonesia?  If so, please identify them and notify them to the Committee. 
 
2. We would appreciate further clarification re garding Indonesia’s import licensing procedures 
for sugar and their application, including:  
• The information that must be provided in an application for an import license. 
 
• The criteria used in analyzing license applica tions and the specific procedures followed by 
Indonesia in granting and/or allocating suga r import licenses and why these criteria were 
selected. 
 
• In cases where the import license application is not approved, how the importer can appeal 
the decision? 
 G/LIC/Q/IDN/9/Add.1 
Page 2  
 
  • For the last quarter of 2008, how many import license applications for refined sugar, 
including plantation white sugar, were receive d.  How many were denied, and why?  How 
many have been approved? 
 3. In a bilateral communication, Indonesia referre d the United States to two documents -- the 
Decree of the Minister of Industry and Trade No. 527/MPP/Kep/9/2004 Concerning Provisions on the 
Import of Sugar as well as the Fifth Amendment of  that Decree as contained in Regulation of the 
Minister of Trade No. 19/M-DAG/PER/2008 dated 29 May 2008.
1  Has Indonesia notified these 
decrees to the Committee?  If not, why not?   When does Indonesia plan to do so? 
4. The United States is concerned that implemen tation of these decrees has led the government 
of Indonesia to ban the importation of sugar during cer tain periods and to restrict the quantity of sugar 
imported overall through the denial of import li cense applications.  Article 7, paragraph 2 of 
Regulation of the Minister of Trade No. 19/M-DAG/PER/2008 appears to state that plantation white sugar is permitted only during certain  periods of the year and then only under certain circumstances, 
i.e. based on an assessment of domestic price and pro duction levels.  Article 7, paragraph 6 states that 
the “amount of sugar to be imported to meet dom estic requirement shall be  determined based on the 
result of coordination meeting between the re lated agencies/institutions and associations…”. 
• What coordination meetings are referred to in Article 7?  Who chairs and who attends these 
meetings?  Do Indonesian refiners or othe r sugar consumers or their representatives 
participate in these coordination meetings? 
 
• Please confirm per the provisions of Article 7, sub- articles 4, 5, and 6, that this coordination 
process determines: 
(a) the projected quantity of domestic sugar production;  
(b) the current domestic market price of sugar; and  
(c) the domestic price level that should be attain ed before imports of sugar are allowed to 
occur, and the quantity of sugar imports that  should be allowed based on (a) and (b).   
• If so, what is the current quantity of sugar th at Indonesia intends to allow to be imported 
based on the implementation of this regulati on and over what period?  Where is this 
information, including the dates when importation may occur, published? 
 
• What other factors may be considered in the coordination meetings to determine if domestic 
production and supply are “sufficient to meet requi rement.”  What is the requirement referred 
to in the regulation? 
 
• What is the justification for limiting the time frame during which imports of sugar may occur, 
as spelled out in Article 7.2 and Article 7. 3 of Regulation No. 19/M-DAG/PER/2008?  Please 
give the approximate dates of th e “people sugar cane grinding seas on” referenced in Article 7, 
sub-article 2(a) and sub-article  3, e.g., in 2008 and 2009. 
 
• What is the justification for the price thres hold established in Article 7.2 of Regulation No. 
19/M-DAG/PER/2008?  How is the price “at fa rmers’ level” calculated or otherwise 
determined? 
__________ 
                                                     
 
1 A copy of the regulation, as provided by the Government of Indonesia, is available for consultation in 
the WTO Secretariat, Market Acce ss Division (in English only).