The Quarantine Agency must be Strengthened

Head of the Agriculture Quarantine Agency, Hari Priyono, said the agency has only 872 functional officers from 2,455 agency officers in Indonesia. They are medics, paramedics, and Plant Pest Control officers (POPT). “Only these people have the authority to determine whether a product is fit for export-import or not,” he said.
These 872 functional officers have to safeguard 324 of 704 harbors that are official entry points to Indonesia. There are also thousands of other unofficial entry points.
As an overview, in 2009 there were 521,000 export/imports of agricultural products, 243,000 were for plant products and 278,000 were for animal products. Each export/import process involved 25-100 containers of products.
“In Tanjung Priok Harbor alone there are 2,000 customs officers, but there are only 110 quarantine officers. All officers conduct the same supervision, but the 110 quarantine officers must keep up with the work pace of customs officers 24-7,” he said.
Currently quarantine officers must prevent the entry of 119 animal diseases and 693 plant pests because they don’t exist in Indonesia. “Rubber plantations in Brazil were destroyed because of pest infestation,” he said.
Facilities and infrastructure available are also very minimal. The agency does not have sufficient facilities for examination so imported products are examined in rented warehouses, importer’s warehouses, and the industrial area. “It is also hard for us to control field officers to ensure they arrive at the location and check the products,” he said. Laboratory support is also very minimal.
Moreover, the salary of a quarantine officer is too low. For example, the salary of a level III A quarantine officer or someone with a bachelor degree is only 1.3 million rupiahs while custom officers get 15 million rupiahs. “While quarantine officers are the first line of defense, their salaries compared to customs officers are only 1:10. We have proposed remuneration to the Ministry of the Empowerment of State Apparatus and Bureaucratic Reformation, but have seen no realization,” he said.
While the FTA for some agriculture products had started in 2004. With the presence of a FTA where resistance through tariffs is reduced, the front line of defense for domestic markets and Indonesian products are quarantine officers. “With these conditions, it is hard to be effective,” he said.
Chairman of the Advisory Board for the Indonesian Agriculture Farmer Association (HKTI), whom is also member of Commission IV from the Party of Functional Groups (Partai Golkar) Fraction  Siswono Yudo Husodo, said the Head of the Agriculture Quarantine Agency must actively improve the performance of the agency. “Because not many institution or people know how strategic the role of the quarantine is,” he said.

Separation
Siswono said for short term, the lack of functional officers could be managed by assigning them to certain locations which are entry points for imported commodities. “[For example] Japan could only export electronic products to France through two ports, therefore it is easy to control,” he said.
Also the welfare of quarantine officers and supporting facilities and infrastructures must be improved.
Amran from the National Mandate Party (PAN) Fraction said the Agriculture Quarantine Agency should be encouraged to be independent. Its capacity will be larger to screen imported commodities.
(MAS)