Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Indonesian Quarantine Agency (Barantin) is strengthening cooperation with New Zealand through the exchange of electronic quarantine certificates."This electronic certificate exchange aims to prevent falsification of documents during the quarantine clearance process, which has a direct impact on reducing ship waiting time or dwelling time," Barantin Head Sahat M. Panggabean informed in a statement issued by his office on Friday.
According to him, Indonesia is the first ASEAN country to exchange electronic quarantine certificates with New Zealand. The cooperation will accommodate the flow of goods entering and leaving Indonesia and New Zealand.
In addition, the Barantin is carrying out sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) cooperation, Panggabean said.
"Barantin is responsible for the health of animals, fish, and plants, with a priority interest in supporting trade facilitation by implementing pre-border, border, and post-border mechanisms," he explained.
He said that the scope of cooperation between Indonesia and New Zealand includes the exchange of SPS regulations and electronic certificates, acceleration of goods release at the border, cooperation for risk mitigation, and quarantine treatment and certification systems.
It further covers systems monitoring, surveillance and early preparedness against diseases, outbreak response and investigation systems, as well as strengthening the capacity of human resources and laboratories.
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Based on data recorded on Barantin's electronic certification system, in 2023, Indonesia's export facilitation to New Zealand consisted of 21.50 tons of animal products, 35,546 tons of live fish, 417.51 tons of fishery products, and 1,070,717.46 tons of plant products.
Meanwhile, the same year, Indonesia imported 154,076 live animals, 285,200.81 tons of animal products, 34.43 tons of fishery products, and 63,807.05 tons of plant products from New Zealand.