INDONESIA’s trade minister Enggartiasto “Enggar” Lukita has suggested that imported Australian wines may in future require halal

certification, as a response to Canberra “undermining” the trade of Indonesian paper and tobacco products.

Amidst negotiations between the two nations towards a free trade deal, Enggar said he had recently raised the idea with Australian

trade minister Steven Ciobo in response to restrictions on Indonesian exports perceived as unfair.

“We facilitate imports of Australian beef. But I am devastated by the barriers slapped on our tobacco and A4 paper,” said Enggar

on Thursday as quoted byThe Jakarta Post.

Indonesia has opposed Australia’s world-first regulation to have plain-packaged cigarettes since the law was implemented in 2012,

joining other tobacco-producing nations in filing a complaint against Australia at the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

 

“I told Steve that I would consider requiring Australian wine sold in Indonesia to also have plain packaging and pass halal

certification, but I deliver it in a light way though, and it was just an expression of my resentment,” said Enggar.

Indonesia already imposes significant taxes on imported goods, particularly alcohol. The average bottle of imported wine

sells for between 200,000 and 400,000 Rupiah (US$20-40).

In March, Ciobo announced that there would be a review into a ruling that Indonesia had dumped A4 copy paper in

Australia, which had spurred the implementation of an anti-dumping tariff against Indonesia.

Bilateral relations between the neighbours have been highly sensitive for decades, with recent tensions arising over the

death penalty, espionage, asylum seekers, trade disputes and Indonesia’s sovereignty over East Timor and West Papua.

Indonesia temporarily withdrew its ambassador in Canberra in 2014 over revelations Australia had bugged the phone

of then-President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and his wife in 2009.

 

In the wake of the execution of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran for drug crimes in 2015, Australia’s ambassador

in Jakarta was recalled for a month. Relations have improved markedly under Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, with

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo making his first state visit to Australia in February.

 

Nevertheless, the friendship was again tested earlier in the year by a controversy over allegedly offensive material

that was found at an Australian army base. As a result, Indonesia temporary suspended military cooperation

with its southern neighbour.

 

 

original -> https://asiancorrespondent.com/2017/05/indonesia-australian-wines-may-require-halal-certification-minister/#tcovBjQMJFILZWvd.99