In 2025, long-established garlic importers in Indonesia failed to obtain import quotas, forcing them to purchase quotas from shell companies allegedly controlled by a few privileged importers, incurring an extra cost of 7,000 to 8,000 rupiah per kilogram. For example, Jaya Sartika, a member of Pusbarindo, and Herry Thio, an importer with 25 years of experience, both applied for RIPH on January 8 but were rejected on the grounds that quotas were full. About 300 business participants applied for RIPH but none were approved. Five long-term importers stated that privileged importers trading licenses have caused garlic prices to soar in the market. One veteran importer calculated that the practice of buying and selling import quotas costs the community up to 3.85 trillion rupiah annually. After including shipping costs for garlic imported from China, the total cost for importers is 25,198 rupiah per kilogram, while they price it at 33,500 rupiah per kilogram, higher than the government's market reference price of 32,000 rupiah. Some believe the reference price should be below 25,000 rupiah per kilogram, forcing the public to pay the price for a few.
In 2025, long-established garlic importers in Indonesia failed to obtain import quotas, forcing them to purchase quotas from shell companies allegedly controlled by a few privileged importers, incurring an extra cost of 7,000 to 8,000 rupiah per kilogram. For example, Jaya Sartika, a member of Pusbarindo, and Herry Thio, an importer with 25 years of experience, both applied for RIPH on January 8 but were rejected on the grounds that quotas were full. About 300 business participants applied for RIPH but none were approved. Five long-term importers stated that privileged importers trading licenses have caused garlic prices to soar in the market. One veteran importer calculated that the practice of buying and selling import quotas costs the community up to 3.85 trillion rupiah annually. After including shipping costs for garlic imported from China, the total cost for importers is 25,198 rupiah per kilogram, while they price it at 33,500 rupiah per kilogram, higher than the government's market reference price of 32,000 rupiah. Some believe the reference price should be below 25,000 rupiah per kilogram, forcing the public to pay the price for a few.