Indonesia Requires Textile And Footwear Importers To Submit Trademark Certificates

• Published date: 28 March 2024
• Subject Matter: Intellectual Property, Trademark
• Law Firm: Tilleke & Gibbins
• Author: Ms Wongrat Ratanaprayul and Rina Sinaga

Indonesia's Ministry of Industry (MOI) has issued a new regulation requiring importers of textiles, textile products, bags, and footwear to furnish applicable trademark certificates when applying for an import permit. This means that a letter of appointment to import from the trademark owner or authorized representative is no longer sufficient to obtain an import permit for these goods.

The requirement is detailed in MOI Regulation No. 5 of 2024 concerning Procedures for Issuing Technical Considerations for Imports of Textiles, Textile Products, Bags and Footwear, which took effect on March 10, 2024.

Affected Products

The new regulation applies to the following products:

• Textiles: Fiber, thread, fabric
• Textile products: Carpets other textile floor coverings, clothing, ready-made clothing accessories, other finished textile goods
• Bags: Suitcases, wallets, school bags, sports bags, handbags, other bags
• Footwear: Shoes, sandals, moccasins

Import Permits

In principle, businesses can import textiles, textile products, bags, and footwear as raw materials, auxiliary materials, or consumer goods (for trading) after obtaining the appropriate import permit from the Ministry of Trade (MOT).

There are three categories of import permits:

• General import permits for consumption (API-U), which are required for parties that conduct import activities for the purpose of trading;
• Import permits for producers (API-P); and
• Import permits for suppliers of raw or auxiliary materials (PPBB).

Applicants for an import permit must submit an application for general importer verification (VIU), the results of which will inform the MOI's technical consideration process. If the MOI issues a recommendation or approval based on their technical consideration, applicants will be able to proceed with the submission of their import permit to the MOT.

The process of applying for and obtaining an API-U import permit has several steps, as...