“With this revision (Permendag), the domestic industry will be protected, including domestic e-commerce, MSMEs, and consumers..”
Heaptalk, Jakarta — Indonesia’s Ministry of Trade has accomplished the revision of Minister of Trade Regulation (Permendag) No.50/2020 concerning trade through the electronic system or PMSE.
In the revised regulation, the Ministry will disallow various e-commerce platforms, such as Tokopedia, Shopee, and Lazada, to trade the imported goods under US$100 (around Rp1,5 million).
According to the Director General of Domestic Trade, Isy Karim, this policy was implemented to protect domestic MSMEs. He explained that the process of harmonizing the revision of this Permendag at the Ministry of Law and Human Rights had been completed. Permission from President Joko Widodo through the Cabinet Secretariat has also been completed.
Also, Isy revealed the ministry also provides additional requirements for foreign traders who interact on domestic marketplace platforms, such as requirements for fulfilling SNI and technical requirements for the goods or services offered.
Perceiving the increasingly digital ecosystem revolution, Indonesia’s Minister of Cooperatives and SMEs, Teten Masduki, observed that this matter had simplified the foreign products to penetrate Indonesia’s market with various e-commerce platforms, making the MSMEs players in the country challenging to compete.
In response to the price amount, Teten admitted, “Actually, the benchmark price is still relatively small. The President has also long asked that our digital economy regulations be improved, due to the digital economy enhanced rapidly,”
Regarding the other points in the revised policy, Teten revealed that online retailers performing cross-border commerce must be prohibited. Based on his statement, they must go through the existing import mechanism to peddle their products online in the country.
Furthermore, he continued that digital platforms are halted from vending their products or those of their business affiliates, specifically business affiliates from the country where the digital platform is located. If this scheme is allowed, Teten voiced that the digital platform’s algorithm will direct customers to their products or from their business affiliates.
On the other hand, following the instruction of President Jokowi, Teten also emphasized that importers are not permitted to sell goods that can already be produced domestically, which is expected to preserve the authentication products of Indonesia’s MSMEs.
“With this revision, the domestic industry will be protected, including domestic e-commerce, MSMEs, and consumers. This regulation is also needed as an initial move to regulate the social commerce model.” Teten said, cited in republika.
