In response, a number of initiatives were taken in the early 1990s to remedy the situation. Subsequently, there was renewed emphasis on iodization of salt as the main strategy for control of IDD, including formulation of a transition and reform strategy for an industry that was not working well. Abolition of the price support scheme led to concern about the welfare of the sharefarmers in the industry. Whilst these recent initiatives indicate a high level of concern by the government and a renewed commitment to control of IDD it is unlikely that they will have the desired effect of increasing iodization of salt for human consumption. These actions raise a number of issues about the most effective manner for the government to reform the salt industry as the mainstay of its efforts to control iodine deficiency.
Government now intends to increase the extent to which it manages the salt industry.
This is being done in a manner which will increase the dominance of PT Garam and perpetuate the inefficiencies in the industry with little chance that iodization will be improved. PT Garam plays a critical role in the government's approach. Prior to 1992 it administered a floor price scheme for salt and stockpiled the surplus which resulted. In the name of ensuring a supply of iodized salt and promoting the welfare of salt farmers, the new proposal would strengthen its role even further and, in effect, provide a mechanism for reinstating a floor price for salt. Government needs to seriously consider ways in which the industry, including PT Garam, can be made more efficient and the iodization of salt for human consumption assured.