September 9, 2025 | 10:51 am
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Textile Division of the Alumni Corps of the Islamic Students Association (KAHMI Tekstil) has alleged the existence of a well-structured syndicate behind the illegal import of secondhand clothing in Indonesia.
“We urge the government not to stop at seizing goods but to thoroughly investigate the intellectual actors behind this illegal import network,” said KAHMI Tekstil Executive Director Agus Riyanto in a written statement on Monday, September 8, 2025.
Agus was responding to the recent discovery of 19,391 bales of imported used clothing, worth more than Rp112.3 billion, at 11 warehouses in West Java. The goods, originating from South Korea, Japan, and China, were confiscated by the Ministry of Trade.
According to Agus, the massive seizure is proof of an organized illegal import network. He noted that these items did not only slip through ports and traditional markets but also circulated via trucks and storage warehouses.
He warned that the influx of cheap imported secondhand clothing threatens the competitiveness of Indonesia’s local textile industry, which is already under pressure from declining demand and the looming risk of mass layoffs.
“Secondhand clothing is one of the products explicitly banned for import into Indonesia. The question is, how could such large volumes pass through unchecked?” Agus said.
He pointed to several legal provisions prohibiting the trade: Article 8(2) of Law No. 8 of 1999 on Consumer Protection, Article 47 of Law No. 7 of 2014 on Trade, and Minister of Trade Regulation No. 40 of 2022.
Data from the International Trade Center (ITC) Trademap shows that secondhand clothing imports under HS Code 630900 reached US$1.5 million in 2024. In the first half of 2025 alone, imports had already hit US$1 million, figures Agus said reflected the scale of the problem.
Agus urged the government and law enforcement to dismantle the illegal import syndicate, including the companies and individuals involved in the national distribution network. He also called for tighter monitoring at ports, border areas, and land transport routes.
“We strongly call on the government to protect the national textile and garment industry through consistent anti-illegal import policies, strict law enforcement against smuggling mafias, and a full investigation of the syndicate abusing import quotas,” he emphasized.
Agus also pressed the Ministry of Trade to release the findings of the ongoing investigation into the August 14-15, 2025 seizures.
“The government must not let this stop at a mere show of action or public relations exercise to pacify local industry players,” he said.
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