Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – Kratom is still a matter of public discussion. In Indonesia, this plant is classified as a class I narcotic, the distribution of which is prohibited by law.
Nevertheless, kratom is considered a high-value commodity. It is not surprising that this plant is much sought after worldwide for pharmaceutical and medical needs.
Director General of National Export Development at the Ministry of Trade, Didi Sumedi, said that kratom export activities have been and are still being carried out referring to data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS). Plus, kratom exports themselves are not yet regulated by the Ministry of Trade or are not yet included in the list of regulated exports.
“If you look at the numbers, it turns out there are (exports of kratom). Well, this might explain that it has not been legally prohibited, but we are careful about doing that, because we don’t have a letter of approval for the export, it’s just on the list. exports are not regulated,” said Didi when met at the Ministry of Trade Office, Central Jakarta, Thursday (5/10/2023).
According to BPS data processed by the Ministry of Trade, the export value of kratom with HS 12119099 in Indonesia fell from US$ 16.23 million in 2018 to US$ 9.95 million in 2019. Then, the value of kratom exports increased again in 2020, namely US$ 13 .16 million and continues to show an increasing trend until 2022.
This positive export performance will continue in 2023. During January-May 2023, the value of Indonesian kratom exports grew 52.04% to US$ 7.33 million or around Rp. 114.3 billion (exchange rate Rp. 15,600).
Meanwhile, in terms of volume, from 2018 to 2021 there has always been a decline with a weakening trend of -14.81%. Then in 2022, the volume of kratom exports will experience significant growth of 87.90% to 8,210 tons.
This positive growth continued in the January-May 2023 period with a growth value of 51.49%, when compared to the same period in 2022.
Then, if you look at the main destination countries for Indonesian kratom exports, the United States ranks first in the January-May 2023 period, namely US$ 4.86 million, followed by Germany at US$ 0.61 million, India at US$ 0.44 million, and Czech Republic US$ 0.39 million.
Furthermore, because kratom itself, he said, still does not have an Export Approval Letter (SPE), the process for issuing or exporting the herbal leaves does not go through the Ministry of Trade.
“There is no (permission from the Ministry of Trade). So we don’t provide the SPE. Because there is no SPE, it might be sent (exported). In our case, there are no regulations prohibiting it, so it seems like it’s in the field, it’s a matter.” for example Customs,” he explained.
Didi confirmed that currently, kratom herbal leaves cannot be said to be illegal, because there are no regulations that prohibit it.
“There are no regulations yet that prohibit it. So this is still under discussion regarding whether this is prohibited or not, whether this contains psychotropic substances or not. We will follow it if there is a decision,” said Didi.
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Originally posted 2023-10-21 04:30:29.