Customs to cut bureaucracy in clearance procedure<\/p>\n
Rendi A. Witular, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The Directorate General of Customs and Excise has issued a new
\npolicy in a bid to streamline bureaucracy to help smooth the flow
\nof goods into the country.<\/p>\n
The policy, which will become effective on April 1, 2003,
\ncovers the post-release control of goods at the customs office.<\/p>\n
Under the post-release process, the customs office will check
\nwhether the importers have already paid the necessary import
\nduties.<\/p>\n
Nirwala Dwi Heriyanto, head of the reform program for import
\nregistration and post-release control at the directorate, said on
\nThursday that the current procedure was deemed unfavorable to
\nbusinesses because importers had to deal with three divisions.<\/p>\n
He said each division often gave different opinions on whether
\nthe importers had paid the necessary import duties, opening room
\nfor customs officials to either extort money from importers or
\ncollude so that the latter could pay lower duties.<\/p>\n
\"The current procedure creates uncertainty for importers,\"
\nNirwala said.<\/p>\n
He said the new policy would also help eliminate such
\ncorruption.<\/p>\n
Under the policy, the post-release control procedure would be
\nintegrated into one division, thus making the import clearance
\nprocess more efficient.<\/p>\n
The new post-release control would only be applied to
\nimporters importing \"high-risk goods\" such as sugar, rice and
\nother commodities or goods whose inflow into the country hurts
\nlocal producers.<\/p>\n
The customs office has often been criticized for extorting
\nmoney from importers and had long-been considered as one of the
\nbottlenecks for an efficient production system. This problem has
\ncreated a high-cost economy, which is partly responsible for the
\ncurrent economic crisis at home.<\/p>\n
Amid the growing criticism and the government's drive to
\nimplement good corporate governance (part of a commitment to
\ninternational donors), the customs office has recently started to
\nrevamp the institution.<\/p>\n
The current post-release procedure requires all importers,
\nincluding those given a non-inspection privilege status, to
\nundergo triple checking for every single import notice document.<\/p>\n
Under this system, importers will have to obtain approval
\nletters from the first verification unit. After this, they will
\nhave to go to a second office for re-verification. And finally,
\nthe third check will be conducted by an audit team.<\/p>\n
Each unit has the authority to declare whether the importers
\nhave fulfilled the necessary requirements. But often bad customs
\nofficials accuse importers of tax violations and demand money.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/customs-to-cut-bureaucracy-in-clearance-procedure-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}