KBRN, Jakarta: The Indonesian Ministry of Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) on Friday, November 7, 2025, announced a selective crackdown on imported second-hand clothing sold on e-commerce platforms, using a humane approach to avoid impacting local sellers of domestically sourced preloved items.

Deputy for Micro Enterprises at the MSME Ministry, Temmy Satya Permana, said the measure aims to curb the trade of illegally imported used garments while ensuring that local resellers of domestically sourced preloved items are not affected.

“We agreed not to take down listings blindly. The ban only applies to imported used clothes. Thrifting itself is allowed, as long as what’s being sold are locally sourced preloved items,” Temmy said during a press conference at the ministry’s office in Jakarta on Friday, November 7, 2025, as quoted by antaranews.com.

The initiative is part of the government’s broader strategy to enforce trade regulations and protect local textile industries from the influx of illegal imported clothing, which violates Indonesia’s trade laws and harms domestic producers.

Temmy emphasized that e-commerce platforms are required to comply with Trade Minister Regulation No.31/2023, which governs licensing, advertising, development, and supervision of electronic commerce.

“Under Trade Minister Regulation 31, e-commerce operators are bound by law not to facilitate the sale of prohibited items, including imported used clothing,” Temmy explained.

The ministry has also urged platforms to identify and remove sellers offering goods that are not allowed for trade under Indonesian law.

In the same event, Radynal Nataprawira, Deputy of Public Affairs at Shopee Indonesia, said the company has taken down hundreds of thousands of listings suspected of selling imported used clothes since 2023.

However, he noted that the process is being carried out carefully to avoid penalizing legitimate small sellers.

“We use a human-centered approach. Each product is reviewed manually, because automated keyword blocking could unintentionally affect small local MSMEs selling genuine local preloved goods," Radynal said. ***