Full Paper P00051

Presentation text in 2012 Science Exchange of CRCNPB.
Policy disjuncture in biosecurity management (case
study of Eastern Indonesia provinces)
By: Theo Litaay.

Globalization through advancement of technologies and
transportation brings the opportunity for people from many
countries to connect and to move from one place to
another. In Indonesia, economic development also
contributes to the movement of people and goods to and
from Indonesia. As a member of international trade
conventions, Indonesia is bound by its international rights
and obligations in developing the regional economy. This
brings substantial challenges for Indonesia to adapt its
economic demand at the same time as its international
obligations. The stakes for Indonesia are high, as the
country needs to improve its governance capacity in order
to maximize the opportunities from international trade.
There are multiple problems facing the Indonesian
government in answering the challenges, both internally
and externally. The main internal governance challenges

are: (i) the institutional and personnel capacities to
respond to the problems, (ii) internal management of the
bureaucracy, and (iii) the lack of good governance. These
problems are common both at the national and local level.
The external challenges for the government lie in the
problems of poverty faced by many communities,

especially in the research sites. The four research sites of
this study (Papua, Papua Barat, Maluku, and East Nusa
Tenggara) represent the most poverty stricken regions in
Indonesia, located in geographical proximity that
comprises a block of poor regions. Their location on the
border of Australia, Papua New Guinea, and East Timor
increases the possibility of pest and disease incursions to
and from Northern Australia, Papua New Guinea, and East
Timor.
The entirety of my literature review argues that public
policy is the instrument for the government to address the
issues. Better governance may gauged by: the official
response to an issue through decision making,

implementing the decision, evaluating the impact of the
decision, which is addressing the issue while continuing to
manage governmental tasks and functions. The better the
governance is. In this regard, government policies related
to biosecurity issues are facing significant demands from
the international, national, and local frameworks. Those
frameworks are meant to develop a better quality of life for
society, nevertheless there is limited government capacity
in Indonesia. To handle the problems, there is no other
choice than to engage local communities to resolve their
problems. In answering local problems, it is important to
understand the value of local knowledge. Local
knowledge works through the social network together with
its structure, so that the advancement of local knowledge
actually depends on the social capital within a community
as it relates to other communities.

Delivery of biosecurity by government through a set of
national and local policy frameworks while simultaneously
observing related international frameworks contributes to

the improvement of a new international framework. Each
policy frameworks has its particular knowledge reference
and is supported by its knowledge system.
This research focuses on a number of cases, using
intensive interviews and field observations in four
provinces, in-depth analysis of historical materials and
studying a variety of empirical materials that describe
routine and problematic moments and meanings in
community life and government decision making
experiences. In performing this qualitative inquiry a
multicase method is applied in this research to analyze the
phenomenon of development paradigms in eastern
Indonesia’s provinces in comparison to national and
international policy frameworks. Ethnographic techniques
are applied in gather in-depth data. Learning from
Baszanger and Dodier’s notions on ethnographic
research, the need for an empirical approach is influenced
by the differences of characteristics between the research
sites and by the need to connect the facts with the specific
features of Indonesian post-1998-political reforms. The

data consists of 122 interviews, 18 observations, 202
documents, and 13 medias or databases, from a range of
people with widely differing heritages and regions in order
to construct a clear and complete picture of the research
object.
In answering the following research question: What are
the international instruments on biosecurity that can, or

should, be implemented into national policies for the
benefits of Indonesian development? Fieldwork found that
globalization had reinforced local government to be more
aware of biosecurity policy. Lessons learned from past
policy mistakes had pushed local government to be more
sensitive toward the needs and complaints from their
constituents, who are local communities and other
stakeholders. Problems that arise from globalization are:
a) invasion of introduced plants, b) introduction of hybrid
food plants that threaten the production of local food, c)
the loss of indigenous breeder innovations caused by
changes to trade policy permitting the introduction of

genetically modified organisms (seedling plants and
cattle), d) paralyzed social networking around traditional
seedling commerce, and e) movement of virus and other
notifiable diseases due to movement of people and goods
across borders without proper quarantine measures.
Actually, the Indonesian central government is aware of
the impact of weak biosecurity management toward
agricultural productivity. The government is also aware
that the answer lies in an integrated approach to the
implementation of a biosecurity framework, whether at
international, national, or local levels. The challenge for
the government is the internal coordination across
government ministries and related agencies, not to
mention problems at local government level. Competing
and vested interests of government institutions resulting
from long term status quo has jeopardized and blocked
efforts to answer the challenge of poverty alleviation as the
real problem. Meanwhile lack of good governance is also

a problem made worse by weak law enforcement. Lack of

good governance is an overall risk to all stakeholders,
from the government budget to farmers’ welfare.
The gap between the levels of policymakers also
contributes to the challenges, where the policymakers at
the local level lack understanding of biosecurity policies in
their own region because they are not sufficiently exposed
to the issue through national or provincial policies (for
many decision makers, biosecurity is understood merely
as plant pest and disease management).
Although international and national frameworks are very
important in setting up the basis for policymaking, the lack
of implementation at the local level is the key problem that
undermines the opportunity of success of any
policymaking.
Analysis of the data shows that integrated biosecurity
policy should be handled both through sector-based
approach and region-based approach. A sector-based
approach would engage biosecurity management with the
stakeholders; government, private sector, universities,
local communities, and non-governmental organizations

collectively. A region-based approach to biosecurity policy
needs to consider the regional characteristics of each
region, whether the archipelago regions or the continental
regions. This policy design takes political will, sufficiently
qualified human resources, and budget support.
The four research sites are multi-gate regions where the
incoming and outgoing transport of people and goods

increases the biosecurity risks for the regions and the
surrounding areas. The biosecurity continuum – that is
related to the border issues – is worthy attention as
follows: a) the pre-border aspect: long distance coasts; b)
the border aspect: inadequate number of quarantine
officers, inadequate number of extension officers, and
inadequate number of village facilitators; c) the postborder aspect: insufficient information to the farmers and
the management of pests and diseases. The challenge
has increased as the impact of climate change had affects
the planting period, altering the pattern of pests and
diseases, and the farmers are not sufficiently supported to
anticipate this new situation.

Nevertheless, at the policy-making stage, data emerge
that the Indonesian national biosecurity policy framework
has accommodated international instruments based on the
following categories of threat against biodiversity:
 Quarantine pests and diseases;
 Invasive Alien Species (IAS);
 Bioterrorism;
 Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) or Living
Modified Organisms (LMOs); and
 Smuggling of Genetic Resources.
Among those five sectors, the most advanced frameworks
(based on the existence of policies and agencies) are the

pests and diseases quarantine sector and the GMOs or
LMOs sector.
The existing policy frameworks accommodate international
and national frameworks while still lacking the local policy
framework.
The pests and diseases quarantine sector is organized
into four fields of regulation namely:

 Sanitary (animal and animal products).
 Phytosanitary (plant and plant products).
 Codex alimentarius (food safety).
 Agriculture cultivation system.
In relation to sanitary (animal and animal products),
national legislation and the rules that regulate the issues in
this field and their implementation is the Agriculture
Quarantine Agency of Indonesia (AQAI). The existing
frameworks also function as the basis for government
officials to develop their policies in related fields.
However, this study shows that the existence of policy
frameworks need to be accompanied by sufficient support
for human resources and institutional development in
order to strengthen the capability of quarantine
enforcement, especially in the entry gates and border
areas. Weak quarantine management could result in
several biosecurity problems especially during the
outbreak of bird flu epidemic.

Fieldwork data also shows that the past policy introducing

non-indigenous cattle in remote regions had a dire effect
on indigenous cattle varieties. Another important issue is
that of virus control in animal and animal products that
come into Indonesia; and is also related to consumer
protection measures by the government.
Since 1992 Indonesian central government passed the
Law on Plant, Fish, and Animal Quarantine (Law No 16 /
1992). This legislation is implemented operationally
through Government Regulation No 82 / 2000 on Animal
Quarantine and other Ministry of Agriculture decrees. All
these provisions are administered by the Agriculture
Quarantine Agency of Indonesia (AQAI, or known in its
Indonesian name as Badan Karantina Pertanian Indonesia
or BARANTAN) and other ad-hoc biosecurity agencies
under the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Indonesia.
The international provision that is the basis for the abovementioned regulations is the International Plant Protection
Convention (IPPC), of which Indonesia is a member
country. According to Article 3 of the Indonesian Law on
Plant, Fish, and Animal Quarantine, the purposes of
animal, fish, and plant quarantine are to prevent incoming

pests and diseases either from abroad or within
Indonesian provinces as mandated by Indonesian law and
those of destination countries. Law on Plant, Fish, and
Animal Quarantine not only provides for quarantine
measures but also provides powers of investigation
procedures and criminalization articles for offenders of the
law. This law covers the Invasive Alien Species (IAS)
issue however it is too general a regulation to provide

proper protection while there is no operating procedure yet
available.
The same legislation (Law on Plant, Fish, and Animal
Quarantine) also serves the area of Phytosanitary (plant
and plant products). Besides the national legislation, the
series of implementing regulations, such as Government
Regulation on Plant Quarantine has also been set. In this
area, there is another existing regulation that is the Law on
Agriculture Cultivation System.
In the food safety area, Indonesian central government is
a member of the international forum, under the supervision
of FAO and WHO, to implement Codex Alimentarius as an
international minimal standardization on food safety.
Based on the guidelines in Codex Alimentarius, in 1996
Indonesia also set the Law on Food. This legislation
provides legal measures to prevent the distribution of any
poisonous food or hazardous food material, prohibits the
distribution of polluted food whether biologically, physically,
or chemically. Implementation of this legislation is
provided through implemention of Government Regulation
on Food Labels and Advertisement and Government
Regulation on Food Safety, Quality, and Nutrition. Control
and supervision are provided by the Food and Medicine
Control Agency (Balai Pengawas Obat dan Makanan or
popularly known as BPOM).
The challenge for the Agency is the limited capacity to
implement the regulations. To meet international
certification and WTO’s obligations, national policies are
produced to regulate the food business with proper

instruments, namely Minister of Agriculture decree on
Food Safety Import Certification and Inspection at Entry
Points, and Minister of Agriculture decree on Food Safety
Export Certification and Inspection at Exit Points. There
are several government agencies that are responsible for
executing authority for the regulations namely AQAI
(specifically the Centre of Information and Biosafety), the
Food and Medicine Control Agency (BPOM), and the
Council of Food Security (Dewan Ketahanan Pangan).
The configuration of the executing authorities for these
regulations describes the complication and the difficulties
faced during the coordination to implement the policies.
Another difficulty apparent in implementing the
Government Regulation on Food Safety, Quality, and
Nutrition (Government Regulation No. 28/2004), which is
handled by more than one body inside the Ministry of
Agriculture, namely among others are Agriculture
Quarantine Agency of Indonesia, Food Security Body,
Directorate of Quality and Standardization, and all the
Directorates of the related-commodities. This situation
itself creates a coordination problem and competing
interests among agencies may result in stagnation in
policy-making, not to mention a weakened position in the
international negotiation forum. As mentioned by a key
informant, the urgency for breakthrough steps in
reorganizing the decision making process is apparent.
Another related biosecurity issue is that of genetically
modified organisms (GMO), which has been enacted such
as the Ratification of the UN Convention on Biodiversity
and the Ratification of Cartagena Protocol or Cartagena

Protocol on Biosafety on the Convention on Biological
Diversity, as well as their implementing policy through
Government Regulation on Biosafety of GMO products.
Meanwhile, the plant protection issue is covered through
the Law on Agriculture Cultivation System. Its
implementing policy is the Government Regulation on
Plant Protection.
Another part of the research that I want to present here is
the answer to a question: What is the most practical
solution for successful development that accounts for
local, regional, national, and international policy
frameworks? Successful regional development as a formal
process covers the set of activities started from planning,
implementation, and evaluation.
The most important principle developed from the study in
relation to local knowledge is recognizing and placing high
value on people as the source of recognition to nature,
knowledge, and traditions. This is related to the principle
of sound policy that the existence of policy is proven in
real life not only as words on paper.
Unique geographical conditions is also another factor to
be considered, such as the problem faced by Maluku
Province and East Nusa Tenggara Province as
archipelagic regions. The challenges of the archipelago
provinces are immense and different from big island or
continental-like provinces. The provinces’ territories are
predominantly water and small islands, with a high
proportion of poverty. Economic activities are centralized
in a few growth centres, especially the capital cities of the

provinces, which has caused the problem of urbanization
and resulted in workforce shortages in the villages.
Geographical conditions have often hampered public
services to the communities in the remote islands when
the provincial and district governments face budget
shortages cause unreliable sea transport and its
infrastructure. Although Maluku and East Nusa Tenggara
could enjoy the support of national government’s program
in their regions, the formula used in structuring the
national budget is very big island or continent oriented,
such as counting the ratio of land to population whereas in
the sea regions the ratio of sea to population, does not
reflect the uniqueness of the archipelago provinces.
In the context of biosecurity, capacity building is needed.
Biosecurity capacity should be improved along with crosssectoral cooperation in biosecurity control, cross border
biosecurity cooperation, and community empowerment
using a social capital framework of bonding, bridging, and
linking. Bonding is empowerment of the community group
in local biosecurity management. Bridging is engagement
of traditional leaders in community development. Linking
is engaging universities in research to anticipate various
development problems and organize cross-stakeholder
coordination teams through Musrenbang (the development
planning deliberation).
Policy monitoring and evaluation is a critical aspect in all
regions of this research’s sites. Multi-institutional
monitoring and supervision has been conducted at each
layer of supervision whether local, provincial, or national.
Nevertheless, good governance is still on the “to be

achieved” agenda. The handicap in the local government
evaluation system is the system itself. The system does
not provide proper sanctions for underperformance and no
clear recognition for high achievement.
Fortunately, as one of the fruits of political reform and
democratization, civil society and press freedom flourishes
in the regions of the research sites. This progress
manages to improve public advocacy and is supported by
media pressure against bad governance. These are the
forms of socio-political pressure that manage to endorse
law enforcement agencies’ reactions toward any bad
governance practice.

Implications.
Implications for policy.
Policy is a necessary strategy to achieve desired change.
It is the tool for the government to perform its function, to
deliver its services and to create difference for the
communities. The implication of this finding is that sound
policy reflects government ability to function and perform
its duty to make a difference. It is the call for local
governments to perform their duties and to develop better
policy and deliver effective implementation.
Policy implementation meanings service delivery, values
transfer, best practice introduction and enforcement of
national interest. It takes persistence and consistent
action, or purposive course of action. The change brought

in by policy implementation is reflected in the quality of
government service delivery and the introduction of best
practice that contain ideal values.
A knowledge-based policy making process is need for the
policy makers. Better policy making requires sufficient
supply of good information in order to conduct policy
analysis and decide which options to take during policy
making. Research-based policy is needed between local
governments and local universities. Policy analysis needs
reliable information produced from good quality research.
A knowledge-based approach will provide development
planning meetings with accurate and sufficient information.
The Musrenbang (the development planning deliberation)
is one effective framework to guarantee participation and
strengthen legitimacy. It is important to guarantee that
Musrenbang is conducted accordingly and to ensure the
active participation of local communities. The
Musrenbang itself needs reform by allowing more
opportunities for local initiatives and proposals rather than
championing central government’s programs.
Central and local government need to endorse more
initiatives to facilitate local villagers greater participation
and responsibility for developing their own community.
The program with a strong local-basis strengthens the
legitimacy of the government and their program before the
eyes of the people.
In the context of biosecurity, the district agriculture service
plays the leading role in the region, by implementing its

program, facilitating national and local program
implementation, and empowering local communities
through knowledge transfer activities.
Implications for practice.
Policy implementation means service delivery, values
transfer, best practice introduction and enforcement of
national interest. It takes persistence and consistent
action, or a purposive course of action. This is a challenge
to be answered and fulfilled by local government in
Eastern Indonesia. Persistent, consistent, and purposive
action are three important principles to guide the course of
action taken by the local government.
This is not to say that the communities will be depending
on government action, in fact when the government is
weak and lacks the capability to deal with problems, it is
the communities that play the main role in solving their
own problems, supported by non-government
organizations and sometimes international development
agencies. Globalization does not only bring business but
also cross border cooperation between international
development agencies and international nongovernmental organizations with local communities.
The local governments need to be active otherwise they
will lose their relevancy with the communities. The abovementioned Musrenbang process can be the opportunity to
increase public trust to participate in development
processes.

Local government is facing challenges such as budget
shortage, low human resource quality, lack of institutional
capacity to conduct integrated planning, lack of
information, and difficult geographical conditions. These
are the agendas to be settled by the local government.
While budget shortage is an issue for local government,
data also shows that at the same time bad governance
(especially corruption) is still a problem. Corruption not
only degrades public confidence in the government but
also erodes government’s legitimacy in the public eye.
Anti-corruption measures and good governance programs
should be adopted in the local government program.
Implications for further research.
As this research studies the adoption of local knowledge
using biosecurity policy as the entry point, research on
other issues in relation to local knowledge is needed.
More research is needed to depict the institutional support
and the system of local knowledge-based service delivery.
Another implication of this research – from a theoretical
perspective – is the need for more studies in defining the
clear boundaries of local knowledge. Locality is blurred
when the boundary is compared to a larger group or a
higher level, something that is local in one context could
be the non-local in another context.
Another issue for further research relates to the regional
policymaking and dependency issue. Regional
dependency toward national programs need to be studied
to find proper solutions. Indonesia’s public policy is caught

in the duality of needs between a decentralized
government and a government that provides welfare
programs to communities.