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Regulatory consistency key to omnibus law, Cargill Indonesia tells government

Source
Jakarta Post - January 23, 2020

Jakarta – Cargill Indonesia, the local arm of the US agribusiness giant, has pointed to regulatory consistency as vital to attaining the desired impacts of the omnibus law, as legal uncertainty can hurt businesses.

"Consistency is important. If the law says one thing, then [the regulations on] their implementation and other regulations should say the same thing," Cargill Indonesia corporate responsibility manager Agung Baskoro said during a visit to The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

"Sometimes, there are conflicting government regulations," he added.

For instance, Cargill Indonesia had to cease its trading business due to inconsistencies in the implementation of a regulation on over-dimension and overloaded (ODOL) trucks.

While Cargill Indonesia obeyed the rule, other companies did not, Agung said, and this left it at a disadvantage against those companies that still used ODOL trucks.

"We could not compete," said Agung, and stressed that consistency in regulatory implementation was critical to the business climate.

The government is drafting an omnibus bill on job creation that aims to cut red tape to ease doing business, create jobs and attract more investment. The administration of President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo has been struggling to attract investment in its effort to tackle the country's sluggish economy.

Dewi Mayasari, Cargill Indonesia's corporate communications manager, said on the same occasion that the company had communicated its views and insights on the bill through the Indonesian Oil Palm Association (Gapki) and the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) in response to the government's request for input.

The omnibus bill covers 11 regulatory aspects: simplifed business licensing; investment criteria; labor, protection and empowerment pertaining to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs); ease of doing business; research and innovation funding; governance; sanctions; land procurement; public investment projects; and economic zones.

Jokowi expects the bill to be submitted to the House of Representatives this week for deliberation. (dfr)

Source: https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2020/01/23/regulatory-consistency-key-to-omnibus-law-cargill-indonesia-tells-government.html

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