By: Dika Adhika
The Indonesian government has formed a Deregulation Task Force as a concrete step to evaluate and simplify technical export and import policies that have been considered burdensome for business actors. The formation of this task force is a strategic effort to improve the business climate and encourage trade efficiency, especially in facing global challenges and the need to increase national competitiveness.
The Deregulation Task Force was formed in response to the many technical regulations that have been considered obstacles to export-import activities. These regulations, although aimed at maintaining product quality and safety standards, in practice often slow down the flow of goods, increase logistics costs, and create uncertainty for business actors.
The Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, Airlangga Hartarto, said that the formation of the Deregulation Task Force aims to harmonize and evaluate technical policies across ministries and institutions. This team will be a coordination forum to align various overlapping or irrelevant regulations and simplify the export and import process, which has been widely complained about by business actors due to the complexity of bureaucracy and the large number of technical documents that must be fulfilled.
In the Deregulation Task Force structure, membership consists of various representatives of ministries and state institutions that have authority in trade, industry, agriculture, fisheries, and customs. The presence of stakeholders from various sectors is intended to ensure that the evaluation is carried out comprehensively and covers various technical, administrative, and legal aspects related to the export-import process. This team will also involve input from business actors, industry associations, and public policy experts so that the evaluation results truly reflect real conditions in the field.
Meanwhile, Minister of Trade Zulkifli Hasan said it was important to accelerate the elimination of regulations that were no longer efficient. This deregulation process is a real step to respond to complaints from the business world who have felt burdened by various technical regulations that are considered unproductive. Zulkifli hopes that the revision of this regulation will make the flow of incoming goods smoother without sacrificing essential aspects of supervision.
On the other hand, the deregulation process is certainly not free from potential resistance, both from within the bureaucracy and from parties who have benefited from the existing system. For this reason, transparency in the work process of the Deregulation Task Force is an important key. The government must ensure that every evaluation process is carried out openly, accountably, and based on valid data. Effective communication with the public must also continue to be carried out so that there are no misunderstandings or negative speculations about the steps taken.
The initial step of the Deregulation Task Force is to map all technical regulations related to exports and imports, both cross-sectoral and sectoral. After the mapping process is complete, the next stage is to evaluate the effectiveness and relevance of the regulations. This evaluation does not only look at the regulatory text, but also includes implementation in the field, including the obstacles faced by business actors in complying with existing provisions.
Minister of Industry Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita also expressed his views. He said that his party had submitted revisions to several technical regulations under the authority of the Ministry of Trade. Agus said that the deregulation carried out did not immediately eliminate the government’s supervisory function over imported goods, but rather to adapt to the needs of the times and accelerate the process of entry of goods needed by industry players.
The final results of the Deregulation Task Force’s work will later be stated in the form of policy recommendations which can be in the form of elimination, simplification, or harmonization of regulations between agencies. These recommendations will then become the basis for the government in determining new policies that are more efficient and friendly to the business world. In the long term, it is hoped that the Indonesian trade system will be more competitive, not only at the national level but also in the international market.
This step has been widely welcomed positively by the business world. Many industry players welcome this deregulation initiative because it is considered to be able to cut logistics costs and accelerate business processes. However, they also hope that this deregulation process will be carried out transparently, not only benefiting a handful of parties, and really have a direct impact on the ease of doing business.
With the Deregulation Task Force, the government hopes that the export and import system in Indonesiawill be more open, efficient, and competitive. Regulations that are considered burdensome and ineffective will be reviewed, and it is hoped that in the future there will be no more overlapping authorities that actually slow down the flow of trade. The government also targets that Indonesia can become a country with a business climate that is increasingly attractive to investors, both domestic and foreign.
The formation of the Deregulation Task Force is an important milestone in the reform of Indonesia’s trade policy. If implemented consistently and supported by all parties, this policy will not only facilitate exports and imports, but also create a modern, adaptive, and sustainable growth-oriented trade ecosystem. The government also emphasized that this deregulation process will continue to be monitored in order to produce policies that truly support business actors and national interests as a whole.
)* Public Policy Observer
