Author: Narada Kumara
As anticipated, the Minister of Trade (“MOT”) finally issued MOT Regulation No. 53 of 2018 on the Second Amendment of MOT Regulation No. 44/M-DAG/PER/7/2014 on the Provision of Tin Export (“MOTR 53/2018”) and MOT Regulation No. 52 of 2018 on the Second Amendment of MOT Regulation No. 39/M-DAG/PER/7/2014 on the Provision of Coal Export and Coal Product (“MOTR 52/2018”), of which both came into effect on 17 April 2018.
MOTR 53/2018 and MOTR 52/2018 have been highly awaited by tin and coal exporters, as several weeks ago many exporters could not export their commodities and were at risk of experiencing loses in profit. This was largely due to the inability to obtain recognition as a tin or coal registered exporter and export approval from the MOT because of conflicting regulations between the MOT and Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources (“MEMR”) in obtaining such recognition.
The above issue was triggered by the MEMR Regulation No. 11 of 2018 on Procedure for the Granting of Zone, Licensing, and Reporting on Coal and Mineral Mining Business Activity on 21 February 2018 (“MEMR 11/2018”), which removed the requirement for tin and/or coal exporters to acquire a recommendation from the Directorate General of Mineral and Coal of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (“DGMC”) as a prerequisite for obtaining recognition as a tin/coal registered exporter and export approval from the MOT for eligibility to export coal or pure tin bar commodities.
Unfortunately, the implementation of MEMR 11/2018 did not directly yield desired results, based on the goals of the government, which included the easing of requirements pertaining to conducting the export of tin and coal. This was due to the fact that under previous MOT regulations, tin and coal exporters were still required to obtain a recommendation from the DGMC prior to applying for registration as a coal/tin exporter respectively and obtaining export approval from the MOT, while the DGMC no longer issues such recommendation.
Currently, however, under MOTR 52/2018 and MOTR 53/2018, the DGMC recommendation is no longer required to be submitted to the MOT when tin and/or coal exporters applying for registration and recognition as a coal/tin registered exporter as well as export approval. As such, through the enactment of MOTR 53/2018 and MOTR 52/2018, existing discrepancies between the above conflicting regulations have been eliminated, resulting in the removal of barriers and obstacles related to conducting tin or coal export business activities. We can conclude that based on the above mentioned developments, the ease of doing business surrounding the export of tin and/or coal has improved greatly.
*****
The Author would like to acknowledge the contribution of our Junior Associate Mr. Fadhli Ramadhan Suriyana in preparing this Legal Alert.
