Indonesia reintroduces import duty on rice

Indonesia reintroduced an import duty on rice on April 1, after suspending it for nearly four months, as import permits for the grain expired at the end of March, the finance ministry said in a statement on Thursday. The import duty for rice and rice flour is now back at 450 rupiah ($0.052) per kg after being suspended from December 22 last year to March 31, the ministry said.
The government suspended the duty for rice imported by state procurement agency Bulog during that period to ensure the grain could be sold more cheaply on the domestic market and ease the agency's costs at a time of relatively high world prices. Indonesia had allowed Bulog to import 2 million tonnes of rice from September to ensure supplies for the government stockpile after it failed to secure local supplies when domestic prices surged above 5,060 rupiah per kg.