Indonesia ups rice import duty by more than 20 percent

Indonesia has raised import duty for rice to 550 rupiah ($0.585) a kilogram from 450 rupiah a kilogram to protect local farmers, a senior official said on Saturday. Indonesia has limited imports of the grain since 2004 to combat smuggling which disrupts local prices, particularly during the harvest period.
"The raise in import duties is to make sure that rice imports won't disrupt farmers' interest," Bayu Krisnamurthi, deputy to the chief economic minister. Under the existing rules, rice imports are allowed a month before the main harvest, during and two months after the harvest.
The main rice harvest normally runs from February to April. The new import duty is effective from September 1. The government has also allowed state logistic agency Bulog to import rice at any time of the year to secure national rice stocks, Krisnamurthi said.
Rice imports are allowed if state logistics agency Bulog's stocks fall below 1 millions tonnes or local prices of medium grade rice rise above 3,550 rupiah ($0.381) a kilogram. This year, the government plans to buy up to 1.5 million tonnes of rice to stabilise prices of rice, the staple of the Southeast Asian country's 220 million people.