Export of Clear Lobster Seeds Begins

Head of the Soekarno-Hatta Customs and Excise Main Service Office, Gatot Sugeng Wibowo, when contacted, Friday, explained that the rejection of the export of clear lobster seeds that had passed the quarantine Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries was purely due to problems administrative, namely because the goods export notification document (PEB) is incomplete.

PEB is a customs document used to notify the export of goods and needs to be submitted as a condition of the export transaction

Also read: Government Targets PNBP of IDR 900 Billion from Lobster Seed Exports

Acting Director General Fisheries Capture Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (KKP) TB Haeru Rahayu, when contacted separately, confirmed that there was no stoppage from the relevant authorities on the export shipment of clear lobster seeds on Thursday. After the documents are completed, delivery of the clear lobster seeds is scheduled again on Friday. The delivery of clear lobster seeds is part of the collaboration between the governments (G to G) of Indonesia and Vietnam.

"There has been no stoppage from the relevant authorities regarding the shipment of the clear lobster seeds. However, there are still documents that need to be perfected, so to ensure administrative document compliance, the sender decided to complete the documents first and reschedule the shipment for today (Friday)," said TB Haeru, who is also the Director General of Fisheries Cultivation at the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries.

Up to this point, there are five Vietnamese clear lobster seed exporting companies that have collaborated with domestic companies (JV) and have legal entities. These companies are PT Mutagreen Aquaculture International, PT Gajaya Aquaculture International, PT Ratuworld Aquaculture International, PT Idovin Aquaculture International, and PT Idichi Aquaculture International.

Also read: Lobster Seed Export Mechanism Has the Potential to Create Monopoly Practices

The opening of lobster seed exports is regulated in the Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Regulation No. 7 of 2024 concerning the Management of Lobsters (Panulirus spp.), Crabs (Scylla spp.), and Swimmer Crabs (Portunus spp.) which was promulgated on March 21, 2024. The clear lobster seed production from Indonesia must meet certain requirements, including a health certificate, a certificate of origin for clear lobster seed from a public agency in charge of aquaculture, and has paid natural resource levies and/or non-tax state revenues.

From Kompas's records, the rules for opening and closing the export of clear lobster seeds have been implemented several times. The government closed the export tap for clear lobster seeds in 2015-2019, then opened it again in 2020. In 2021, the export of clear lobster seeds was closed and in 2024 the export tap opened again.

Susi Pudjiastuti, the Minister of Marine Affairs and Fisheries from 2014-2019, was a minister who strongly banned the capture and export of lobster seeds during her tenure. Through her personal X account, she often protested the current policy of exporting lobster seeds.

Susi hopes that the future government can cancel the policy. According to Susi, if lobster seeds are not caught and not exported, adult lobsters that can be caught by fishermen will increase. Thus, Indonesia will once again be known as one of the world's respected producers of lobster consumption as it was in the past.

Export procedures

According to Gatot, despite the recent opening of the clear lobster seed export valve, there is no ambiguity regarding the standard operating procedures (SOP) that must be followed. The stages that must be passed are already quite clear and in accordance with standard administration procedures so far.

Firstly, exporters are required to transfer data on their exported goods in the PEB system to Customs-Excise Information System and Automation (Ceisa) for exports owned by Bea Cukai. If all document requirements have been fulfilled and are in line with the licensing documents (Health Certificate) from the Quarantine Agency, the export approval note (NPE) will be automatically issued and the goods can be exported to the destination country.

In certain circumstances, the Ceisa Export system may experience technical disruptions, thus affecting the checking of document completeness and shipping of goods. According to Gatot, if the disruption occurs for a maximum of one hour, the exporter will automatically be served with a manual PEB.

“After the supporting documents are deemed complete, the NPE will be manually generated. If the Ceisa system is back to normal, the exporter or their authorized representative must transfer the PEB electronically through the system,” said Gatot.

Smuggling foiled

The issuance of lobster seed export permits to five companies did not stop the case of lobster seed smuggling. Law enforcement officials foiled two lobster seed smuggling cases that were to be transported abroad on Friday. The prevention efforts were carried out by a joint team from the Navy, as well as a joint team from the KKP monitoring agency and the Jambi Water and Air Police.

Also read: Lobster Seed Exports Open, Smuggling Continues

A joint team from the Indonesian Navy caught a lobster-seed transport boat in Lambur Luar waters, Tanjung Jabung Timur, Jambi Province, on Friday at around 00.30, after a chase since Thursday (9/5/2024) evening. The arrest operation was carried out by blocking off the waters of Tanjung Jabung Barat and Tanjung Jabung Timur, including the waters of Kuala Tungkal, Mendahara, Lagan, Kampung Laut, Lambur, and Nipah Panjang.

The small ship is suspected of carrying 52 boxes of Styrofoam filled with 312,000 clear lobster seeds, valued at an estimated Rp 46.8 billion in Vietnam.

Meanwhile, a joint team of PSDKP-KKP supervisory authorities and Polairud Jambi thwarted the smuggling of 24 boxes of clear lobster seeds in Jambi, equivalent to 183,000 individuals with an estimated sale value of IDR 27.45 billion. The smuggling of 24 boxes of clear lobster seeds was carried out through land routes using a vehicle. When the vehicle was parked at one of the minimarket stores in the Alam Barajo area, Jambi City, the authorities arrested the smuggler.

Acting Director General of Marine and Fisheries Resources Supervision at the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, Pung Nugroho, stated on Friday that law enforcement officials are continuing to intensively prevent the smuggling of transparent lobster seeds, both through independent and joint operations. "This operation has been instructed by the Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries," he said.

Pung added that the pattern of smuggling transparent lobster seeds tends to be almost the same, namely through land, sea, and air routes. The ongoing problem of smuggling is allegedly caused by these companies operating without being registered for export permits or avoiding tax payments and non-tax state revenue (PNBP) collection.

Previously, Minister of Marine Affairs and Fisheries Sakti Wahyu Trenggono, some time ago, mentioned that the government's policy to resume the export of clear lobster seeds was due to the difficulty in curbing the smuggling of clear lobster seeds (Kompas.id, 29/4/2024). Indonesian clear lobster seeds continue to be smuggled into Vietnam through Singapore and Malaysia. Almost all of the lobsters raised in Vietnam are strongly suspected to come from Indonesia. The lobster cultivation results from Vietnam are then absorbed by the Chinese market.

Thus, cooperation and collaboration are being undertaken to provide space for Vietnamese investors to develop lobster cultivation in Indonesia. In addition, Indonesia also supplies the need for clear lobster seeds for cultivators in Vietnam with the condition that the actors pay non-tax state revenue (PNBP).

The government has set a quota for transparent lobster seeds that may be exploited and exported, amounting to 419,213,719 individuals or 90 percent of the estimated seed stock.