Jakarta (ANTARA) - Indonesia’s Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries is prioritizing administrative sanctions to curb violations in fishery commodity imports, saying the approach is effective in enforcing compliance while safeguarding business continuity and protecting workers in the fisheries sector.
The policy has become the ministry’s main law-enforcement tool in handling import violations, with a focus on ensuring businesses comply with licensing requirements, quotas and import approval mechanisms under prevailing regulations.
“If we freeze or revoke permits, the impact is not only on companies but also on workers. That is why administrative sanctions are our first option,” Halid K. Jusuf, director of fishery resources surveillance at the ministry, told a press conference in Jakarta on Tuesday.
He said administrative sanctions place direct pressure on corporations because they affect business operations, licensing status and financial obligations, prompting companies to comply more closely with regulations.
Criminal sanctions remain part of enforcement efforts, Halid said, but are positioned as a last resort when businesses fail to comply with administrative penalties or commit repeated violations.
“Criminal charges still apply, but only as a final step. If administrative sanctions are ignored and violations recur, then criminal measures are imposed,” he said.
In practice, the ministry applies administrative fines, suspends or revokes permits, and allows businesses to rectify licensing deficiencies in line with the law.
The ministry also recommends quarantine measures for non-compliant commodities, including refusal of entry, re-export to the country of origin or destruction of goods, based on coordination with the Indonesian Quarantine Agency.
One of the most common violations involves manipulation of licensing documents through misinterpretation of revised import approvals, or PI, making quotas appear larger than permitted.
“Revised PIs are treated as if they were new approvals, so quotas are assumed to increase. But under the regulations, that is not the case,” Halid said.
Such practices can open loopholes for non-compliant fishery products to enter Indonesia and disrupt the stability of the domestic fisheries market, he added.
In one recent case at Tanjung Priok Port, authorities prevented fishery imports that could have caused estimated economic losses of Rp4.48 billion (US$265,000) due to failure to meet import requirements.
The ministry imposed an administrative fine of about Rp1 billion on the company involved.
Strengthening administrative enforcement is essential to maintaining a healthy business climate, protecting compliant companies and ensuring fair competition in the fisheries sector, the ministry said.
Halid urged businesses to fully comply with import rules, warning that violations pose significant risks to long-term operations.
“It is better to operate in compliance, which carries far lower risks and benefits everyone, than to violate the rules and face broad consequences for companies and the public,” he said.
