Importing Animal Products To Indonesia

Importing goods to Indonesia is definitely a hot topic. Our previous blog posts about import licenses and undername import are among the most read articles we’ve written.

Today we’ll go more into details with one of the most challenging products – importing animal products to Indonesia.

First of all, do not try to import anything to Indonesia without an import approval (PI). Unless you have good ties in the Indonesian customs this will have only two possible outcomes:

1. The goods become the property of Republic Of Indonesia
2. Goods need to be re-exported

Every week we get emails from foreigners who were not aware of it and unfortunately there’s not much that can be done once the goods are already stuck in customs. So play safe and get license first or use an undername importer who has the right license (remember the one company one classification rule that applies since this year).

What products are classified under animal products?

Any product derived from animals will be an animal product. Most common ones are all sorts of meat, milk, yoghurt, whey, butter, dairy spreads, ghee, cheese, eggs and many more. Consult Emerhub in case you are not sure what is your product classification.

List of licenses required for importing animal products to Indonesia

Needless to say, importing animal products to Indonesia is not the easiest thing to do in this country. But all of the hassle might be well worth it once you get all your documents in order and enjoy the benefits of Indonesia’s optimistic consumers.

The list of licenses you are required to obtain:

• API-U (general importer identification number)
• NIK (
• IT-Produk Hewan Olahan
• PI (import approval)

Let’s see how to get all of those licenses.

Incorporate import/trading company first

In order to be able to apply for import licenses, you will need to have a company in Indonesia that has importing or trading stated as its activities. In case you don’t have one yet, start as soon as possible because it will take around 8-10 weeks to get company registered. Here’s our company registration service.

API-U and NIK

Once your company is set up, you will need to obtain API-U (general importer identification number) and NIK (customs identification number). Since in this article we talk about importing animal products, getting those licenses will however not be sufficient and you need to be registered as importer of animal products (IT-Produk Hewan Olahan).

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Becoming importer of animal products (IT-Produk Hewan Olahan)

Becoming an importer of animal products is a very bureaucratic process (or you might ask what isn’t bureaucratic in Indonesia?). Here are the documents you need to prepare for your application:

1. All company’s legal incorporation documents
2. Request Letter
3. Proof of ownership of: Cold Storage
4. Proof of ownership of: Transporter with cold storage
5. API-U and NIK

If you could take only one thing out of this article then take this – fulfill ALL of those requirements and you will be fine. Often foreign entrepreneurs find some of those criteria ridiculous and try to find ways around them. It’s not a good idea and will only delay the whole process. Be prepared from the beginning.

Import approval (PI)

Prior to every shipment you will need to get approval EVERY TIME from Ministry of Trade. In order to receive it, you’ll need the following:

1. Letter of request
2. Import plan for 6 months
3. Recommendation from Agricultural Ministry (Dirjen Peternakan dan Kesehatan Hewan)
4. Recommendation from BPOM (Direktur Inspeksi sertifikasi Pangan) (We can help you get no. 3 and 4)
5. All company incorporation documents
6. API and NIK
7. IT – Produk Hewan

That’s it – I hope this was structured enough to give you an idea of what you will need to go through to start importing animal products to Indonesia. If you need assistance, we’ll be happy to help you with both setting up the company and obtaining import licenses.

Contact us also if you have any other products you want to import. Remember – you can save a lot of time and money by being well prepared prior to your first shipment.

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