TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesian Minister of Trade Budi Santoso invited exporters of fishery products, especially shrimp and shrimp products, to further intensify exports to Saudi Arabia.
Budi made this statement in response to the Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA) decision to approve Indonesia's proposal to reopen export permits for shrimp and shrimp products from the country.
"The SFDA's decision to reopen export permits for shrimp and shrimp products from Indonesia is good news. We hope this opportunity can be fully utilized," Budi said in a statement in Jakarta on Monday, as quoted by ANTARA.
Starting September 7, 2025, exports of shrimp and shrimp products to Saudi Arabia were halted for approximately eight months due to concerns about Indonesian shrimp being contaminated with cesium 137. As a result, the SFDA suspended the permits of four Indonesian exporters.
Fajarini Puntodewi, the Director General of National Export Development at the Ministry of Trade, said that Indonesia has opened a dialogue with the SFDA in response to this issue. Indonesia submitted a report supporting the safety of its shrimp products in hopes of allowing them to reenter Saudi Arabia.
"Now, based on the latest SFDA decision, the permits of the four exporters have been reactivated," said Puntodewi.
Efforts to reopen shrimp and shrimp product exports to Saudi Arabia are being synergized by the Indonesian Food and Drug Monitoring Agency with the Cesium 137 Task Force under the Indonesian Coordinating Ministry for Food, the Indonesian Ministry of Trade, the Indonesian Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, the Indonesian Embassy in Riyadh, and the Indonesian Trade Attaché in Riyadh in collaboration with the SFDA.
To date, Indonesia has 63 fish product companies and 18 processed fish product companies registered with the SFDA. The SFDA allows all these companies to export to Saudi Arabia by following the same cesium-137-free certification procedures implemented in the United States.
Read: Single Export Body Risks
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