TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Planned protectionist e-commerce rules may trigger retaliation
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
Indonesian trade ministry is planning to regulate foreign merchants selling on domestic e-commerce platforms. A draft regulation stipulates that the merchants will be mandated to provide a copy of proof of business legality approved by official Indonesian representatives seated in the merchant’s country and submit information on their products’ origin. (Shutterstock/-)
T
he Trade Ministry plans to change the rules on e-commerce in a move aimed at protecting local manufacturers of consumer goods against competition from abroad.
The Jakarta Post has got hold of a draft for a new regulation to amend Trade Ministry Regulation No. 50/2020 concerning the e-commerce industry, dated Dec. 19.
Industry experts asked about the draft generally expressed support for the proposed changes, but they also noted that some parts could cause policy headaches in the future if passed in the currently proposed form.
“If we could support [the production of] brooches but we still import them from China, this nation is so stupid – [as] if we couldn’t produce brooches [ourselves],” dean of the Law Faculty of the University of Indonesia Edmon Makarim said in support of the draft on Friday.
If the regulations were revised according to the draft obtained by the Post, foreign merchants selling on domestic e-commerce platforms would be mandated to provide a copy of proof of business legality approved by official Indonesian representatives seated in the merchant’s country and submit information on their products’ origin.
On top of that, the merchants would need to ensure that they use simple Indonesian in product or service descriptions, reveal their identity, provide proof of standard compliance and submit their bank account details to the marketplace.
Overall, Edmon agreed with the ministry’s plan to add permit layers, arguing that e-commerce was essentially export and import activity and therefore had to be in accord with trade laws.
