Hot off the press is a story in today's Kompas newspaper that Customs Officials have detained a container load of used condoms imported from Germany. The reasons for holding the imports are pretty clear, being used condoms they pose a potential health hazard unless of course each one has already been individually tested prior to export and then their subsequent import to Indonesia. This did not happen so the risk of disease either through contact or airborne pathogens remains real.
It just goes to show that some people will go to any length to make a buck or two. Interestingly, the Bill of Lading suggests that the scrap rubber in the form of rubbers is in fact new waste. This is interesting because the definition of new waste seems to be 'newly used' waste rather than the offcuts and other unsuitable for sale condoms. There are more than 25,000 kilograms of them sitting in this container at the Tanjung Priok port. It is unlikely that Customs was contemplating the import of used condoms when it was permitted for scrap rubber to be imported.
Anyway, a decision is pending.
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