Indonesia Orders Online Marketplaces to Remove Imported Used Clothing and Help Traders Switch Stock

November 7 order puts major marketplaces under pressure

Indonesia has ordered its largest ecommerce platforms to remove listings and close online stores selling imported used clothing, bringing a longstanding import crackdown directly into the country's digital shopping market. At a November 7, 2025, meeting, the Ministry of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises summoned marketplace operators and the Indonesian Ecommerce Association following an instruction from President Prabowo Subianto to curb illegal imports that officials say undercut domestic producers.

The association's members include Shopee, Tokopedia, TikTok Shop by Tokopedia, Lazada, Blibli, and other large operators. The instruction covers sales through online marketplaces and social platforms. Several platforms began removing affected listings after the meeting, and officials planned follow-up checks to assess compliance.

The government says the action applies an existing prohibition that parts of the digital economy have continued to ignore. Its central distinction concerns where the clothing comes from: imported used apparel is prohibited, while people may still resell personally owned clothes and used goods sourced within Indonesia.

MSME Minister Maman Abdurrahman presented the order as a measure to protect Indonesian producers. Speaking at a briefing in Jakarta, he said platforms must close access to illegal thrift listings.

The influx of imported used clothing destroys the domestic market. We want to protect local producers and ensure ecommerce platforms shut down access to illegal sales,

Indonesia's textile businesses and millions of small firms depend on demand for locally made goods, according to the government's explanation for the crackdown. Officials also frame the restrictions as consumer protection because the origin and hygiene of imported secondhand apparel are difficult to verify. Marketplaces have been encouraged to give local products greater prominence and help affected merchants move to legal stock.

What is prohibited, and what sellers can still trade

Indonesia's Trade Law and implementing rules prohibit the import and trade of most used goods. The government cites Trade Ministry Regulation No. 31 of 2023 as part of the legal framework: it lists restricted items and requires online marketplaces to prevent sales of goods that violate the law, including imported used clothing.

Marketplaces must remove illegal listings and act against repeat offenders who try to put the same goods back on sale. Closing a listing is therefore only one part of the November instruction. Platforms are also expected to address the stores behind prohibited sales and watch for attempts to return under different names.

Importers of prohibited used clothing can face up to five years in prison and fines of up to 5 billion rupiah. Officials say small traders often do not understand the legal risks when they buy stock from smugglers or intermediaries. Enforcement has initially focused on importers and major suppliers, while traders willing to change products have been offered education and coaching.

The MSME Ministry has stressed that locally sourced preloved goods remain legal. A person selling clothes they already own, or a business reselling used clothing obtained inside Indonesia, can continue trading. Vintage stores and charity shops that do not depend on imported bales fall within that domestic resale distinction.

The target is the flow of used clothes across borders that evades customs checks, taxes, and product safety rules. A bale is a large, compressed bundle of clothing, which traders can divide into individual items for sale. Once those items reach a shop or online listing, establishing their origin becomes a central enforcement task.

How the crackdown developed

The November order follows years of efforts to stop prohibited used clothing imports and more than a year of Trade Ministry action against illegal online listings. Officials have described sellers repeatedly changing how they advertise goods to escape detection.

The main dates and figures show how the enforcement effort has continued alongside the reported inflow of clothing:

• By March 2023, the Trade Ministry said roughly 40,000 links advertising imported used clothing had been removed from ecommerce and social commerce platforms.
• In 2023, members of the Indonesian Ecommerce Association began working together to reduce prohibited products, according to the association.
• In 2024, the MSME Ministry estimated that imported used clothing reached around 3,600 tons.
• From January to July 2025, imports of finished textile products and used clothing exceeded US$78 million, rising more than 17 percent from the same period in 2024.
• By August 2025, the MSME Ministry reported about 1,800 tons of used clothing inflows.
• On November 7, 2025, the MSME Ministry summoned major platforms and instructed them to remove illegal imported clothing sales.

Follow-up checks were planned after the November meeting, but no dates were given. The immediate task for marketplace operators is to turn the removal instruction into continuing oversight, including action against merchants who relist prohibited stock.

Why taking down a listing is only the beginning

Moga Simatupang, the Trade Ministry's acting director general for consumer protection and commerce, described the recurring problem of sellers returning after their advertisements had been removed. He called for closer cooperation with ecommerce teams.

Once it has been taken down, it can appear again in a different name. We need help from the ecommerce team to handle this,

Sellers have changed keywords, photographs, and product titles to avoid detection. Ministry officials have documented merchants replacing the word used with terms such as preloved and leaving out photographs of the original sacks that could reveal imported stock. Some move between platforms or change store names.

Marketplace operators say they combine manual investigations with automated tools to find evasive listings. Industry representatives have asked the government to share lists of suspected links quickly so their teams can remove them in bulk. They also want clear definitions of illegal inventory to protect legitimate domestic resale from mistaken removals.

Radynal Nataprawira, Deputy of Public Affairs at Shopee Indonesia, said the company uses reviewers rather than blanket keyword filters when deciding which listings to remove. He described that approach as a way to avoid harming merchants who comply with the rules.

The process is done manually, not algorithmically, to ensure fairness,

Human review matters because the same words can appear in both lawful and unlawful sales. A listing described as preloved may concern a locally owned garment or clothing taken from an imported bale. Checking the stock's origin, rather than relying only on its description, is therefore a practical challenge for platforms.

What the platforms have promised

Tokopedia and TikTok Shop by Tokopedia said imported used clothing is prohibited on their platforms and that violations are removed. Lazada said it would follow government directions and apply Indonesia's rules across its marketplace.

The Indonesian Ecommerce Association said its members have worked since 2023 to reduce prohibited products and would continue coordinating with the responsible ministries. Hilmi Adrianto, the association's chairman, supported the policy as a way to improve competition and support Indonesian fashion businesses.

This policy is important to strengthen a healthy online trade ecosystem and support the growth of Indonesia's local fashion industry,

Platforms face two connected responsibilities: keeping prohibited imported stock off their services and maintaining access for lawful sellers. The ministry also wants them to help traders move into legal products and make domestic goods more visible to shoppers.

Government and platform teams will need continuing monitoring and faster exchanges of information to manage repeat listings. For merchants operating at scale, checking origin may require platforms to seek supporting evidence. Quick appeals would help legitimate domestic sellers resolve mistaken removals while enforcement continues.

The import figures behind the government's concern

Official figures put imports of finished textile products and used clothing at more than US$78 million between January and July 2025, an increase of over 17 percent compared with the same months a year earlier. China, Vietnam, and Bangladesh were the main sources. This figure combines finished textile products with used clothing, so it describes a wider category than secondhand apparel alone.

The MSME Ministry separately reported a steep rise in used clothing inflows in recent years, estimating around 3,600 tons in 2024 and about 1,800 tons by August 2025. The amount reported by August was half the ministry's estimate for the whole of 2024, although the two figures cover different lengths of time. Earlier years had much smaller volumes.

Government research also found that secondhand clothing imports had grown sharply over the previous decade despite the prohibition. Officials see that trend as evidence that enforcement has struggled to keep pace with digital marketplaces and shopping through social media.

Retailers and factory owners have described illegal used apparel becoming easier to find both online and in physical markets. Policymakers worry that continued inflows could make Indonesia a destination for bulk shipments of used garments, taking business away from local weaving, dyeing, and garment companies that employ millions of workers.

Prabowo's instruction addresses both supply and livelihoods. The president directed the MSME Ministry to stop illegal thrift sales while developing alternative products for traders who had depended on imported bales. The ministry's stated goal is a shift toward Indonesian fashion that can compete on price, design, and changing trends.

Why shoppers and local producers see the trade differently

Pasar Senen in Central Jakarta is among the markets known for racks of used clothing sourced from overseas. Thrifting has become part of shopping culture in many Indonesian cities, where customers seek low prices and unusual items that may be difficult to find in ordinary stores.

Many shoppers also see reuse as a way to reduce waste. Traders who specialize in imported bales say the business provides steady income and attracts customers to traditional markets. Removing that stock therefore affects both individual sellers and the shopping activity around them.

Local garment producers describe a different pressure. They say cheap imported used apparel draws spending away from knitters, sewers, and small fashion labels that already face higher costs than large overseas producers. Maman has argued that persistent inflows erode the domestic market and could push small Indonesian brands out of business.

Price connects both sides of the dispute. Shoppers looking for affordable clothes may struggle to switch if domestic alternatives cost more, while local makers need enough sales to sustain production. The government's transition effort consequently depends on finding legal stock that traders can sell at prices their existing customers can afford.

The plan to keep thrift traders earning

The MSME Ministry is connecting affected sellers with hundreds of local clothing brands so they can become resellers or official distributors. Under that arrangement, a trader would sell products supplied by an Indonesian brand instead of buying imported used clothing through intermediaries.

The ministry is also working on easier access to financing and measures to lower production costs for local manufacturers. Officials want domestic clothing to remain within reach of thrift shoppers while offering designs suited to fast changing tastes.

Temmy Satya Permana, Deputy for Small Enterprises at the MSME Ministry, said the government was preparing cooperation between brands, platforms, and merchants to preserve traders' income as they moved to lawful stock.

We wont allow MSME traders to lose income. We are preparing collaboration schemes between local brands, ecommerce platforms, and sellers so they can continue selling legal products,

Some thrift vendors at Pasar Senen have expressed readiness to switch to domestically made clothing, according to officials. Local governments are expected to support efforts to keep those businesses viable.

Financing, introductions to manufacturers, and competitive prices are central to whether traders can make that switch. Sellers need a reliable supply of products their customers will buy, while local brands need distribution beyond their existing shops. The proposed partnerships are intended to connect those needs.

A wider reset of digital commerce rules

Indonesia's action against imported used apparel sits alongside tighter controls on retail purchases from abroad. Authorities have kept a very low threshold for imports that can enter without tax and require goods arriving from countries without specific trade arrangements to be handled by local importers.

Those rules make it harder for overseas warehouses to ship directly to individual Indonesian customers. A local importer acts as the business responsible for bringing goods into the country under Indonesian requirements, rather than leaving each sale to move directly from a foreign seller to a buyer.

Indonesia has also kept Temu out of its market. Officials argued that the platform's model, relying on direct overseas shipping without local intermediaries, undercuts domestic sellers and complicates tax collection. Fast fashion operators dependent on small parcels sent from abroad have faced similar difficulties.

Shopee, Tokopedia, and Lazada continue operating through local importer networks under Indonesia's rules. The policy approach favors platforms that can work within domestic import arrangements and gives authorities a local business to hold responsible for compliance.

Digital tax collection is another part of the changes. A regulation described as slated for July 2025 would require marketplaces to withhold a small income tax from sellers within a defined revenue band. The proposal aimed to improve compliance and put online merchants and physical retailers on a more equal footing. Its implementation status was not specified in the November 9 account.

Enforcement also depends on ports, prices, and supply

Indonesia's geography complicates the crackdown. Smugglers can reroute shipments through smaller ports across the archipelago, and large bales can be divided and relabeled after arriving. Action against online stores addresses the retail end of a trade that also depends on border enforcement and wholesale suppliers.

Officials say illegal used clothing will be seized and destroyed, with importers exposed to fines and imprisonment. Consumers have been encouraged to buy locally made apparel and report suspicious listings. Platforms are expected to keep illegal thrift stock off their services and help traders find legal, locally sourced alternatives.

The ministry's work on prices is equally practical. Many thrift customers shop primarily for affordability, so restrictions alone leave traders needing replacement stock at a suitable cost. Support for financing, production, and links between manufacturers and sellers is intended to make that replacement possible.

The November 7 order brings these tasks together: stopping prohibited imports, removing their online sales channels, preserving domestic resale, and helping merchants change what they sell. Continued checks will assess platform compliance, while the transition effort will depend on whether local suppliers can meet traders' needs for price, design, and dependable stock.

What to Know

• Indonesia ordered major ecommerce platforms to remove imported used clothing listings and close stores selling that stock after a November 7, 2025, meeting.
• The government cites the Trade Law and Trade Ministry Regulation No. 31 of 2023 as part of the legal framework.
• Resale of personally owned clothing and used goods sourced within Indonesia remains allowed.
• Importers can face up to five years in prison and fines of up to 5 billion rupiah.
• By March 2023, the Trade Ministry said roughly 40,000 illegal sales links had been removed.
• The MSME Ministry estimated used clothing inflows of around 3,600 tons in 2024 and about 1,800 tons by August 2025.
• Imports of finished textile products and used clothing exceeded US$78 million from January to July 2025, rising more than 17 percent from a year earlier.
• The ministry is linking thrift traders with hundreds of local brands, working on financing access, and seeking lower production costs.
• The crackdown accompanies tighter import controls, restrictions on direct overseas shipping platforms such as Temu, and a proposed marketplace seller tax.