The Definition of Seaweed in the Fisheries Law Needs to Be Amended

The Aquaculture Association proposes a revision to Law No. 45 of 2009 on the Amendment to Law No. 31 of 2004 on Fisheries (collectively referred to as “Law 31/2004”) to accommodate a change in the definition of seaweed in order to facilitate the domestic industry ecosystem. Until now, seaweed has been classified as a type of fish.

“We request that Law 31/2004 be amended regarding the definition of fish,” said Safari Aziz, Chairman of the Indonesian Seaweed Association (“ARLI”).

Aziz explained that a change in the definition of seaweed is necessary because it is still classified as a type of fish. This classification burdens seaweed exporters with overlapping administrative obligations, namely the requirement to hold two certificates simultaneously: a health certificate for fish and a phytosanitary certificate for plants. This situation is considered to incur high costs and hinder export competitiveness.

To the House of Representatives of the Republic of Indonesia (“DPR RI”), the association proposed that seaweed be defined appropriately according to its biological nature, namely as an aquatic plant or marine algae. With this proposed change, facilities processing seaweed would no longer be referred to as Fish Processing Service Units, but would instead be designated as seaweed or marine algae processing service units.