The Minister of Finance (MoF) has issued Amendment Regulation No. 61/PMK.011/2007 to ensure that the price of cooking oil remains not only stable but that domestic supply demands are met. The mechanism to stabilize price and supply is the stipulation of tariffs levied on Crude Palm Oil (CPO) and its derivative products destined for export. This is the fifth amendment to Ministerial Regulation No. 92/PMK.02/2005 as amended by Ministerial Regulation No. 130/PMK.010/2005 on the Determination of the Certain Types of Goods for Export and the Size of Export Tariff Levied.

In an effort to reduce the potential for waste water pollution of the environment that is likely to cause considerable damage to the environment the State Minister of the Environment has issued Regulation No. 4 of 2007. This Regulation includes 5 Attachments that stipulate the maximum levels of chemicals and other pollutants as well as the mechanism for measuring them.

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The Regulation, No. 75/PMK.04/2006, has been issued primarily to expedite the process of granting, suspending, and revoking Registration Numbers. Nevertheless, the Regulation makes explicit reference to the Presidential Instruction of earlier this year that sets out the investment climate improvement policy package (see ILB 3/3/2006).

The Draft Bill on Prioritized Maritime Claims and Mortgages on Ships (bill) has been drafted with the express intent of providing greater legal certainty for both creditors and debitors. For an archipelagic nation such as Indonesia that relies heavily on commercial shipping the need for a separate regulatory framework to cover mortgages over ships and the prioritizing of maritime claims has been a long time in the making.

The Directorate General of Customs and Excise has issued Circular No. SE-14/BC/2006 (the ?Circular?) to provide the implementation guidelines to be followed to ensure compliance with a series of earlier regulations stipulating increased tobacco retail prices.

The Constitutional Court has recently handed-down its decision in a case seeking the judicial review of the Forestry Law (Law No. 41 of 1999 as amended by Law No. 19 of 2004), particularly Article 78(15) and the associated Elucidation of this Article. The Article relates to tools and equipment used in the forestry industry sector and was bought by a finance company, PT. Astra Sedaya Finance, claiming that the Article breached constitutional rights guaranteed under Articles 28D(1), 28G(1), and 28H(4) of the 1945 Constitution.