JAKARTA: The government’s plan to clamp down on used clothes imported in violation of an existing ban, mainly to protect the domestic textile industry and prevent the risk of infectious diseases, has met with a cold shoulder from both thrift sellers and shoppers in Jakarta over increasing cost of living and sustainability issues.
Thrift shoppers in the capital usually flock to Senen Market in Central Jakarta, known as a hub of used clothing stores. Located near a busy train station that shares its name, the market is home to hundreds of thrift shops that sell countless volumes of secondhand clothes, mainly sourced from Japan and South Korea.
One such seller is Muhammad Dede Purnomo, 20, who said the government’s plan to limit imports of secondhand clothes would not only hurt the incomes of traders like himself, but also undermine the high sales turnover that had come to define the secondhand market over the decades.
“We’ve built our own loyal customer base. If the government really enforces the ban and carries out crackdowns, so many people will not be able to buy affordable clothes anymore,” Dede told The Jakarta Post on Oct. 28.
Sellers like Dede typically earn up to Rp 2 million (US$120), enough to cover the price of a big sack of worn clothes. Dede said he often buys a 150-kilogramme sack of secondhand clothes from a supplier in Bandung, West Java for between Rp 5 million and Rp 12 million.
Thrifting is also a solution for many people who live in Jakarta, one of the country’s most expensive cities where monthly household spending can average Rp 14 million, according to a report from Statistics Indonesia (BPS).
Recent graduate Al Ghifary, a loyal customer and thrifting enthusiast, expressed his disappointment over the government’s plan to enforce the ban on secondhand imports, saying it would limit his options for buying affordable clothes and affect his lifestyle.
“Most of the clothes and shoes I’ve worn over the past couple of months come from here,” Ghifary said, referring to Senen Market.
“Aside from being much cheaper, I believe [thrifting] is a way to give new life to clothes that are still perfectly useable,” he added.
Though a 2022 trade ministry regulation bans imports of secondhand clothing, many such goods continue to enter the country through illegal channels due to little oversight, as well as unclear sanctions for violators.
Indonesia imported more than 12 tonnes of used clothes in 2023, according to the United Nations Commodity Trade Statistics Database (UN Comtrade).
The trade in secondhand clothing, mostly from the United Kingdom, the United States, Malaysia, South Korea and Japan, generated nearly $30 million in revenue.
A separate report from Statistics Indonesia (BPS) showed that in 2024 alone, the country imported more than 3,800 tonnes of used clothes.
Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa said the government’s plan to put a halt to imports of used clothes was aimed at protecting the domestic textile industry, and warned of potential fines for thrift traders, Kompas.com reported.
The Association of Convection Entrepreneurs (IPKB), which represents the country’s apparel manufacturers, supports the planned crackdown. Jakarta Governor Pramono Anung has said he is also behind the plan.
“[But] we will first communicate with the traders,” the governor’s special staffer Chico Hakim said on Oct 28.
But Bhima Yudhistira, executive director at the Center of Economic and Law Studies (Celios), said although the trade in illegally imported secondhand clothing might have hurt the textile industry, opposition from thrift traders was justified, as the government had not offered alternatives to an outright ban.
“There must be a solution beyond just banning imports,” Bhima said.
He also suggested that the government provide compensation or assistance to those potentially affected by the move.
I Gusti Nyoman Darmaputra, head of dermatology and venereology at Udayana University School of Medicine, acknowledged that the used clothes sold at markets like Senen could carry microorganisms such as bacteria, fungi and parasites if they were imported without proper disinfection and hygiene standards.
People who wore thrift clothes without deep-cleaning them first might get sick, Nyoman added. But “a total ban is not the key”, he said, stressing “clear oversight and enforcement of hygiene standards” as the path forward. - The Jakarta Post/ANN
