STATE TRADING

The following communication, dated and received on 23 October 2025, is being circulated at the request of the delegation of Australia.

_______________

Australia thanks Indonesia for its notification _G/STR/N/20/IDN and would like to request some additional information.

Question 1

Indonesia has notified in _G/STR/N/20/IDN Perum BULOG as a State Trading Enterprise affecting rice (HS 1006). In Section A of Part III, Indonesia notes in relation to the overview of the operations of Perum BULOG:

·_        Conducting domestic paddy/rice procurement;

·_        Ensuring stability of domestic rice price;

·_        Distributing rice for poor and vulnerable people, Internally Displaced Persons (IDP's), and victims of natural calamities and social conflicts;

·_        Maintaining national reserve stockholding for food security purposes.

Can Indonesia please advise whether there is a target that guides procurement by Perum BULOG, in terms of a percentage of domestic production, percentage of domestic consumption or an explicit target in tonnes, on a growing season or annual basis?

Question 2

In Section C of Part III, Indonesia notes in relation to the types of entities other than Perum BULOG that are allowed to engage in importation/exportation and the conditions for participation:

Private sector as well as STE Perum BULOG are given equal rights to the import and export of food commodity, subject to special restrictions or guidelines set by the government.

Can Indonesia please outline the 'special restrictions and guidelines' that apply to private sector entities for the import and export of food commodity [in order to fully respond to the description of 'conditions for participation' of 'entities other than the state trading enterprise'].

Question 3

In Section D of Part III, Indonesia notes in relation to how import/export levels are established by Perum BULOG:

General provisions regarding the import and export of rice carried out by Perum BULOG are determined from the mandate of the Central Government. Perum BULOG is only an STE that carries out the mandate as written in point II.B.

Can Indonesia please clarify if its response under section C of Part III is that Perum BULOG is the only STE that carries out this mandate?

Question 4

In Section H of Part III, Indonesia notes in relation to the market structure:

Ever since the liberalization of rice trade, the Government of Indonesia has encouraged the private sector and cooperatives to participate in the local rice market. This has created a competitive market involving many players in the rice industry, including rice producers, collectors, processors and traders. When the market fails to function properly, especially at times when prices tend to be unstable at producer or consumer level, Perum BULOG intervenes in the market and smooths out the price fluctuations.

Can Indonesia please outline how the concept of 'price instability' is operationalised, as outlined under section H of Part III. What are the relevant thresholds or the price triggers? Is the volume of stock held by the Perum BULOG taken into account when considering whether it intervenes in the market at any point in time?

__________