TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Head of the Indonesian National Food Security Agency, Arief Prasetyo Adi, responded to the U.S. Trade Representative Office (USTR) accusations that Perum Bulog monopolizes food imports. According to him, the food reserves at the state-owned enterprise are important to meet national needs.
Arief stated that President Prabowo Subianto requested the establishment of food reserves at Perum Bulog. However, food should not need to be imported as much as possible.
"We are a sovereign state. Do we want to keep importing everything and let our farmers die? That's not the case. The President wants farmers, breeders, everyone to prosper, and production to be domestic," said Arief when met at his office in Jakarta on Tuesday, April 29, 2025.
With the existence of food reserves, Arief stated that Indonesia still has a rice stock of 3.1 million tons amid the price increases in neighboring countries. In addition, paddy rice from farmers is purchased for Rp6,500 per kilogram. "I think we are on the right track," said Arief when met at his office in Jakarta, quoted on Friday, May 2, 2025.
Therefore, Arief stated that the Agriculture Ministry is working hard to increase production. According to him, this performance is proven by a record surplus of 1.68 million tons of rice in May 2025. He mentioned that this condition must be maintained.
The former Head of the Bulog's Directors Board added that the government is currently postponing the distribution of food aid to ensure that the stock remains sufficient when rice production declines in the middle or end of the year. According to Arief, the decline in rice production is due to the nature of the rainfed paddy fields. Meanwhile, the irrigation network is still limited.
In the 2025 National Trade Estimate Report on Foreign Trade Barriers, as seen by Tempo, the USTR mentioned that the Indonesian government restricts the import of animal feed corn, only granting import rights to Bulog. However, corn imports for industrial purposes are still allowed. As the sole importer of animal feed corn, Bulog prioritizes the distribution of corn to small poultry farmers.
According to USTR, Bulog's import volume is determined based on domestic production levels and commodity balances. Large-scale feed mills that do not receive supplies from Bulog require using locally produced animal feed corn.
However, according to USTR, industry players have expressed concerns that they are having difficulty obtaining an adequate amount of corn to sustain the growth of the poultry industry. "Bulog also holds exclusive authority to import rice with a broken grain level of 15 to 25 percent. This policy is implemented based on food security considerations and price stabilization," the USTR report stated.
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