Source:  Richard Smith, MEATINGPLACE, 6/14/11

The Indonesian government will increase U.S. beef imports should the domestic meat supply prove insufficient, China's Xinhua News Agency reported.

The move came following the ban of live cattle exports to Indonesia by Australia because of the cattle cruelty issue in Indonesia's abattoirs, deputy deputy minister of agriculture Bayu Krisnamurthi told Xinhua.
"We will boost beef supply from the U.S. and live cattle from New Zealand," Krisnamurthi said.

The Australian government suspended last Tuesday all live cattle exports to Indonesia, in a move that could cost the industry hundreds of millions of dollars. The suspension came following release of footage which showed Australian cattle being tortured in Indonesian slaughterhouses.

Indonesia is the biggest buyer of Australian live cattle, accounting for about 60 percent of the market.
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said Friday that his government plans a mid-to-longer term policy of increasing the supply of several commodities, starting from rice, sugar, corn, soybean and meat. "Let's make the incident a whiplash for us to seriously mobilize our ability in accelerating meat self-sufficiency," Yudhoyono said.

Some government ministers said last week that the ban was harmless as cattle supply was ample and could also be sourced from other countries, The Jakarta Globe reported.

“Consumers don’t need to be worried about rising prices. We have enough supplies until the upcoming Idul Fitri holiday (in late August),” trade minister Mari Elka Pangestu said.

But Yudhoyono didn’t seem convinced. “(The ban) could raise the price of beef at a time when we need to stabilize the price heading into the Holy Month of Ramadan and Idul Fitri,” Yudhoyono said, adding that he had ordered his ministers to ensure the supply of beef was enough for the next six months.

“Even though every Idul Fitri or Ramadan prices go up, we should keep the rise within a proper limit that won’t burden our brothers carrying out their religious duties,” he said.

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