REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- The Ministry of Trade has revised steel import rules in Minister of Trade Regulation No. 22 of 2018, concerning Provisions on the Import of Iron or Steel, Alloy Steel, and Derivative Products to become Minister of Trade Regulation No. 110 of 2018. The ministry will evaluate if the control is post-border and if the upstream industry would be disrupted.

"Therefore, we have revised the rules and returned supervision to the border," Trade Minister Enggartiasto Lukita said in Jakarta on Thursday.

Since it was promulgated on Dec 20, 2018, Regulation of the Minister of Trade 110 of 2018 concerning Provisions on the Import of Iron or Steel will take effect one month later, namely on Jan 20, 2019. Lukita explained that as much as 52 percent of national steel consumption needs, which reached 13.6 million tons in 2017, included imported products.

In 2018, use of imported steel increased to 55 percent to meet the demand of 14.2 million tons. In view of this trend, the Minister of Trade proposed to the Coordinating Minister for Economy Darmin Nasution that supervision be returned to the customs.

It is known that Permendag (the ministerial decree) 22 Year 2018 has changed three times. The change was intended to accelerate the process of goods flow at the port (dwelling time) for iron and steel products. However, the regulation was actually used by importers to replace the harmonized system number (HS) from carbon steel to alloy steel.

With the presence of Minister of Trade Regulation 110 of 2018, the Minister of Trade has ensured that steel imports will be re-regulated even though the supervision is still carried out by customs officials at the border.

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