Indonesian importers have called for a boycott of Australian goods as anger grows over Canberra's decision to grant temporary visas to 42 Papuan separatists who arrived in Cape York in January.

Indonesian Association of National Importers chairman Amiruddin Saud said the planned boycott would continue until the Papuan's visas were withdrawn."This boycott is not a bluff, this is really serious," he told reporters.

The boycott, he said, would hurt Australia more than Indonesia, because Jakarta was currently Australia's 10th largest export market for merchandise worth more than $A3.4 billion.

"We won't suffer because we can look for other import sources from other countries," Amiruddin said. "Don't worry, Indonesian people won't suffer a loss."

Australian-made products are prominent on Indonesian shop shelves and in supermarkets, where dairy products, cereals and canned goods often carry Australian labels. Other major exports include crude petroleum, cotton, live animals, unprocessed sugar, wheat, vegetables, fruit juice and metals such as aluminium and copper.

Amiruddin said his group had around 200 members importing Australian products who, if they were nationalists, would follow his boycott directive. "From today, we will not depend on Australia," he said.

But other major business groups have urged Indonesia's government not to let the Papua row spill over into a trade war. "We're afraid of the possibility of economically harmful actions, such as boycotts, in both countries," Thomas Darmawan, the chairman of the Association of Food and Beverage Industries, told the Jakarta Post newspaper.

His fear was shared by Indonesian Retailers Association chair Handaka Santosa and Flour Producers Association chief Ratna Sari Lopis.

Separately, small business minister Surya Darma Ali said Indonesia would also bar imports of Australian cattle breeding stock, but denied the move was linked to the Papua visa row. Surya said Jakarta would stop granting breeding cattle import licences to help Indonesia's beef industry compete. Indonesia currently imports around 70,000 live cattle from Australia each year, some to improve the quality of local herds.