JAKARTA, Sept. 10 (Xinhua) -- The Indonesian government started on Monday to ban the export of kratom plants as an effort to increase the added value of the commodity.
Director General of Foreign Trade at Indonesia's Ministry of Trade, Isy Karim, said the move was made in an internal meeting with President Joko Widodo.
"In the meeting, it was decided that kratom exports must comply with predetermined standards in order to increase added value and provide legal certainty. We hope that this new policy will increase the acceptability of Indonesian export products," Karim said in a statement.
He added that the policy was also expected to prevent kratom abuse and illegal exports of Indonesian plant commodities.
"I hope that business actors can implement this regulation so that it can improve the Indonesian economy," he said. ■