Customs office must be serious in reforms: Analysts<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Analysts cautiously welcomed on Tuesday the reform initiatives
\nrecommended by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the
\nDirectorate of Customs and Excise, calling on the directorate to
\ndo use this opportunity to improve its performance and
\nreputation.<\/p>\n
Sofyan Wanandi, the chairman of the National Committee for
\nEconomic Recovery, lauded the plan to form an advisory committee
\ncomprising government officials, business associations and
\nexperts to advise and criticize the customs office.<\/p>\n
He said business associations were the best source of
\ninformation for the directorate to identify crooked importers and
\nexporters, and as such to help customs officials perform their
\njobs.<\/p>\n
\"I consider the reforms very positive,\" Sofyan said.<\/p>\n
On Monday, Director General of Customs and Excise Permana
\nAgung announced his office would carry out a 17-point
\nrestructuring program recommended by the IMF, aimed at improving
\nthe integrity of customs officials and cleaning up the customs
\noffice of corruption and illegal practices.<\/p>\n
The technical details of the program will be formulated by a
\nsteering committee headed by the minister of finance and
\nincluding business associations. This committee will convene
\nevery Wednesday and is expected to complete its job by the end of
\nthe year. The implementation of the reform program could begin
\nearly next year.<\/p>\n
M. Ikhsan, an economist from the University of Indonesia, said
\nthe reform program was good, but there was nothing new in it.<\/p>\n
\"For instance, the formation of a special (advisory) committee
\nwas actually called for by the customs law (No. 10\/1995). The IMF
\njust recommended something that the law called for a long time
\nago,\" Ikhsan said.<\/p>\n
Under the customs law, the advisory committee is called the
\nCustoms and Excise Advisory Board. It was supposed to comprise
\nthe government, businesspeople and experts. The function of the
\nboard was to have been to hear disputes between businesspeople
\nand the customs office and submit a decision to the director
\ngeneral of customs and excise, who would make a final ruling
\nbased on the committee's decision.<\/p>\n
It is not known why the government never formed the committee,
\nseven years after the implementation of the law.<\/p>\n
Sofyan noted that the advisory committee should also be
\nempowered to supervise customs officials and recommend
\ndisciplinary actions against corrupt officials. He added that the
\ncommittee could not be headed by a customs official, to ensure
\nits independence.<\/p>\n
The customs office has long been considered one of the most
\ncorrupt institutions in the country, and many businesspeople have
\ncalled for the curtailing of its authority. They have asked the
\ngovernment to reinstate the preshipment inspection of Indonesian
\nimports and rehire Swiss-based surveyor Societe Generale de
\nSurveillance (SGS), which did the preshipment inspections from
\n1985 until 1995, when the government returned the job of
\ninspecting imports to the customs office.<\/p>\n
Ikhsan is among the experts who has recommended the rehiring
\nof SGS, because of deep concerns over corruption in the customs
\noffice.<\/p>\n
According to Ikhsan, the IMF prefers reforming the customs
\noffice to rehiring SGS, which it consider too costly.<\/p>\n
\"I agree that we cannot continue to depend on SGS. We have to
\nempower our customs office, but I am pessimistic that the office
\nwill change given the corrupt mentality of its officials,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Sofyan also said he was pessimistic the customs office would
\nsuccessfully reform itself.<\/p>\n
\"Anyway, it is fair enough to give the office another chance
\n-- maybe one or two years -- to show to the public that it is
\nable to change itself. Let's believe that the office is willing
\nto take part in the current reform movement,\" he said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/customs-office-must-be-serious-in-reforms-analysts-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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