The Government is preparing the draft amendments to the Regulation of the Republic Indonesia (PP) No 34 of 2011 concerning Anti-Dumping, Countervailing and Safeguard Measures to strengthen the protection of domestic industries from unfair trade practices by partner countries. To inform the drafting process, ARISE+ Indonesia, under the aegis of the Directorate Trade Defense, the Ministry of Trade reviewed the trade remedy legislation.
ARISE+ Indonesia specifically reviewed the Regulation and the Draft Regulation considering Indonesia's obligations under the relevant agreements of the World Trade Organization (WTO), of which Indonesia is a member. The reviews included the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT 1994), the Agreement on Implementation of Article VI of GATT 1994 (the Anti-Dumping Agreement), the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures, and the Agreement on Safeguards.
The outcome of these analyses will assist in drafting the updated trade remedies regulation to ensure full conformity with WTO requirements. Furthermore, it will assist KADI (Indonesia Anti-Dumping Committee) and KPPI (Indonesia Trade Safeguard Committee) in improving their investigation skills to ensure WTO compliance, thus reducing the risk of trade remedy decisions being challenged in the WTO dispute settlement system by Indonesia's trade partners.
"The amendments will facilitate KADI and KPPI to initiate investigations of unfair trade practices by Indonesia's partner countries that injure domestic industries," the Director of Trade Defense, Mr Natan Kambuno, said.
In conducting the reviews, ARISE+ Indonesia prepared a matrix setting out all the WTO requirements related to each of the three remedies to determine whether the Regulation or the Draft Amendments met these requirements. ARISE+ Indonesia also handed out comprehensive questionnaires for KADI, KPPI and trade remedy lawyers to assess Indonesia's actual trade remedy practices. The responses greatly assisted ARISE+ Indonesia in determining which existing procedures align with Indonesia's WTO obligations.
Since 1995, Indonesia has initiated 144 Anti-Dumping and imposed 65 Anti-Dumping duties, ranking it 13th in the world. With 38 Safeguard investigations initiated, Indonesia is the 2nd most prolific initiator of safeguard investigations. Indonesia imposed 24 safeguard measures, making it the most prolific applier of safeguard measures in the world.
Indonesia has not yet imposed countervailing duties on imports of subsidised goods, but that will start to change with the new trade remedy regulation.
