Excise Office Denies Report of Illegal Rice Import

Jakarta (Antara) - The Directorate General of Customs and Excise has denied a report that 16.9 tons of rice have been imported illegally from Vietnam. "The importation of the rice from Vietnam has been carried out with recorded importation activities (83 times)," Susiwijono Moegiarso, a director of the Customs and Excise Office, said here on Sunday. He said that the Vietnamese rice which had flooded the Pasar Induk Cipinang Wholesale Market did not come from smuggling activities but from importation through Tanjung Priok and Belawan ports, after a license had been obtained from the ministry of trade. Susiwijono said the imported rice had complete documents. (*)