'Pre-shipment inspection system temporary'<\/p>\n
By Riyadi<\/p>\n
SINGAPORE (JP): The current debates on the pre-shipment
\ninspection system for Indonesia's imports has spilled over to PT
\nSurveyor Indonesia's branch office in Singapore.<\/p>\n
The general manager of Surveyor Indonesia in Singapore, Gannet
\nPontjowinoto, is joining the furor, saying that for the time
\nbeing, the pre-shipment inspection is the best choice for
\nIndonesia.<\/p>\n
\"I'm saying this not because I'm benefiting from the current
\nsystem but because I believe that from whatever points we see it,
\nIndonesia still needs this system, at least for the time being,\"
\nGannet said in a recent interview here.<\/p>\n
Gannet argued that the capacity of Indonesia's ports and
\ninfrastructure could not yet accommodate the country's growth of
\nimports, which stood at 15 percent to 20 percent per annum.<\/p>\n
He acknowledged that the pre-shipment inspection system was
\nonly temporary. \"Whenever our infrastructure has been adequate,
\nwe might need to turn to the post-shipment inspection system.\"<\/p>\n
Anticipating the removal of the current clearance system,
\nGannet said the company was currently preparing to diversify its
\nservices, including quality control and certification of quality
\nassurance.<\/p>\n
Misunderstanding<\/p>\n
Sharing Gannet's argument, Surveyor Indonesia's general
\nmanager for Rotterdam, Netherlands, Frederik Pasla, said here
\nthat the wave of disapprovals over the current pre-shipment
\ninspection system is greatly caused by a misunderstanding of the
\nsystem itself.<\/p>\n
\"As long as the government still relies on revenues from
\nimport tariffs to finance parts of its spending, we cannot
\nabandon the pre-shipment inspection,\" Pasla said, adding that the
\nworkings in pre-shipment inspection included harmonized system
\ntariff classification on goods and calculation of duties based on
\ncustoms invoicing, not commercial invoicing which opened doors
\nfor under-invoicing and over-invoicing practices.<\/p>\n
Pasla explained that the objectives of the pre-shipment
\ninspection for Indonesia's imports included enabling fast
\nclearance at customs, ensuring correct collection of customs
\nrevenues, ensuring proper execution of government regulations on
\nimports, deterring fraud and smuggling and the importation of
\nsubstandard goods, as well as helping provide trade statistics.<\/p>\n
The origin of the pre-shipment inspection program can be
\ntraced back to the early 1960s, when the Zaire government asked
\nthe Geneva-based Societe Generale de Surveillance S.A. (SGS) for
\nassistance in checking import frauds by performing pre-shipment
\nquality and quantity inspection of that country's imports.<\/p>\n
Many countries experienced similar abuses but were more
\nrelated to the avoidance of paying import duties and taxes. In
\n1983, the authorities of Haiti expressed a wish to obtain not
\nonly price reductions on over-invoiced imports, but also price
\nand classification information for customs purposes.<\/p>\n
Most pre-shipment inspection systems renewed or initiated
\nsince then have combined the two main features of import
\nverification -- customs revenue enhancement and foreign exchange
\nconservation.<\/p>\n
The pre-shipment inspection system was introduced in Indonesia
\nin 1985, when the government appointed SGS to inspect Indonesia's
\nimports at points of loading to ease the flow of trade and
\nincrease customs revenues.<\/p>\n
In a later development, the government established PT Surveyor
\nIndonesia, a joint-venture surveyor company with SGS. The
\ngovernment awarded the main contract on import inspection to
\nSurveyor Indonesia, which then hired SGS as a subcontractor.
\nSurveyor Indonesia is expected to eventually take over all
\ninspection jobs from SGS.<\/p>\n
Basically, Surveyor Indonesia and its contractor, SGS, conduct
\ncustoms inspections on incoming goods and issue inspection
\nreports, called Laporan Pemeriksaan Surveyor which detail the
\nparticulars of the shipment, including the quality, quantity,
\ntariff classification and prices of the goods inspected.<\/p>\n
\"We are required to issue inspection reports within two days
\nof the exporters submitting their final documents,\" Gannet said,
\nadding that the Singapore branch of Surveyor Indonesia could
\nissue 80 percent of the inspection reports within two days.<\/p>\n
He noted that part of the customs work, including tariff
\nclassification, duty classification and duty payment, could be
\ndone during the shipping time, so that the importers could get
\ntheir inspection reports ahead of time and clear their imported
\ngoods on time.<\/p>\n
\"Many times, importers get their inspection reports several
\ndays before the arrival of their imported goods. This of course
\nattributes to the smoother flow of imports,\" Gannet said.<\/p>\n
Largest<\/p>\n
He said the Singapore branch issued about 4,500 inspection
\nreports per month, or over 150 a day. Last year, the branch
\nbrought out 49,458 reports, with a total import value of US$3.54
\nbillion.<\/p>\n
Formed in January last year, the Singapore branch of Surveyor
\nIndonesia is the second largest branch office after the Japanese
\nbranch office in terms of import value. For comparison, the
\nJapanese office produced 58,154 reports last year for total
\nimports of $7.05 billion. Surveyor Indonesia has so far opened 15
\nbranches overseas.<\/p>\n
With 92 employees, mostly local people, the Singapore office
\noccupies 1,200 square meters of space on the ground floor and
\nanother 409 square meters on the second floor of the Keppel
\nDistripark in Singapore.<\/p>\n
Gannet, who was Surveyor Indonesia's general manager for
\nTaiwan until August last year, said that his office inspected
\nonly goods imported from Singapore. As for goods trans-shipped
\nvia Singapore, the office only checks the labels given by other
\nbranches in other countries to make sure that the labels are
\nstill intact and the containers are not changed.<\/p>\n
Gannet and Pasla rejects arguments that Surveyor Indonesia
\noften marks up prices of imported goods because the fee the
\ncompany collects from the government is based on the value of the
\nimports being inspected.<\/p>\n
\"Our business is just like the business of an egg seller who
\nhas to sell only good eggs. Once he sells a rotten egg, nobody
\nwill come to him anymore. So, what we are selling is trust, both
\nto the government and traders,\" Gannet said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/pre-shipment-inspection-system-temporary-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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