indonesias port closures in march 2012 the united states raised concerns about indonesias plan to close several entry ports for imports of fruit and vegetables including the main port of jakarta tanjung priok originally scheduled for 19 march but postponed until 19 june 2012. the port closure would threaten 90 of fresh fruit and vegetable exports to indonesia and the measure was not done in a transparent manner. the united states indicated its willingness to work with indonesia to resolve any legitimate phytosanitary concerns indonesia had with respect to fruit and vegetable imports while also facilitating trade in these products. the united states urged indonesia to notify these trade restrictions to the committee and to provide scientific evidence to support them. the european union agreed that unnecessary trade disruption would occur from the port closure and recalled that any sps measure should be no more trade restrictive than required and in line with the sps agreement. the european union similarly encouraged indonesia to notify its draft measures to the wto and to allow sufficient time for formal comments from trading partners and related discussions. australia also expressed concerns with indonesias revised horticultural regulation which was of major commercial interest to australian exporters and indicated its willingness to work collaboratively with indonesia to resolve this issue. chile indicated that it was closely following the concern and awaited the notification of indonesia in order to work bilaterally on the issue. south africa joined with other members to request that indonesia notify this regulation to the committee with the necessary reasoning and documentation. south africa indicated its willingness to cooperate with indonesia to find a solution canada voiced concern that similar port closures could occur in the future for other commodities for example food of animal origin which could have a negative impact on canadas exports to indonesia. new zealand noted particular concerns that the jakarta seaport had not been included on the list of accepted entry points as 90 of nz horticulture exports entered through that port. the port closures would result in higher costs and longer transport times affecting the quality value and shelf life of the perishable horticultural products. new zealand requested justification for the implementation of this regulation and while noting indonesias comments regarding port capacity observed that restricting the number of ports for horticulture imports would compound the problem by diverting trade to fewer and smaller ports. although the delay in the implementation of the regulations was welcomed new zealand requested that the regulations be rescinded as trade to indonesia would otherwise not be viable. new zealand looked forward to working constructively with indonesia and highlighted the need for a transparent approach. indonesia reported that the ministry of agriculture had published new regulations no. 15 and no. 16 of 2012 which postponed the enforcement of regulations no. 89 and no. 90 from 19 march until 19 june 2012. the postponement of enforcement of the regulations was in order to provide sufficient time for stakeholders and trading partners to set u infrastructure such as warehouses cold storage and transportation so as to prevent distortion in the distribution of fresh fruits and vegetables. both new regulations provided specific policies for several ports. as of 19 june 2012 all horticulture products should only enter through four ports -- the belawan sea port in medan makassar sea port tanjung sea port in surabaya and soekarno-hatta airport in jakarta -- and should no longer enter through the port of jakarta tanjun priok . the rationale for these new regulations was based on i the identification of 19 cases threatening indonesias agriculture by the quarantine inspection and food security at tanjung priok ii the limited ability of the quarantine and fo