A representative of Indonesia's produce trade sector has urged fruit-exporting countries to apply for 'country of recognition' status in order to reap the benefits of more streamlined shipments and direct sales to Jakarta.

Indonesian Fruit and Vegetable Exporter and Importer Association (Aseibssindo) spokesperson Hendra Juwono told www.freshfruitportal.com the recent granting of the status to South Africa would help the market, adding to a list of beneficiary nations which includes the U.S., Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

Juwono added Pakistan also had country of recognition status for its Kinnow mandarins, while Argentina and some European countries had also applied.

"You can see that the decree itself from South Africa that they submitted their application in 2013, so it can take a few years to be completed," he said.

"China already submitted a long time ago and it was already granted but somebody in the Chinese Embassy didn’t follow it up so it’s never been finalized," Juwono added.

He said the major benefit for South Africa's produce industry now was that exporters wouldn't have to conduct lab tests for pesticide residues, however it was still uncertain whether the country's Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) would actually remove the requirement.

"After they've done the hard work and a lot of people put the effort into this to obtain the recognition, from what I’ve heard from the South African side they are thinking of still implementing the lab test before shipment. In a way that doesn’t make sense to me," Juwono said.

DAFF did not respond to requests for comment on the procedure.

Juwono said removing the lab testing component would mean fruit could be shipped to the Indonesian market sooner.

"They can ship immediately as soon as they have stock, whereas before they had to plan two weeks in advance to get the lab result done first," he said.

"In terms of the market in Indonesia, South African fruit have better pricing as they can now ship into Jakarta port instead of having to go through the port of Surabaya.

"This reduces costs by US$1,500-2,000 for every container."

He said obtaining the country of recognition status would mean any nation concerned could compete more fairly in the Indonesian market.

"I’d like to see every exporting and producing country be able to obtain the recognition for good agriculture practices."

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