Pre-shipment inspection system will stay<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Finance Mar'ie Muhammad said here
\nyesterday that the government will maintain its pre-shipment
\ninspection procedure to secure smooth import flows.<\/p>\n
Mar'ie hastily added, however, that the pre-shipment
\ninspection of imports, introduced in 1985, has nothing to do with
\nthe performance of the Customs and Excise Duty Directorate
\nGeneral.<\/p>\n
"The primary objective of the pre-shipment inspection system
\nis to smooth out the flow of imports," he said when answering
\nquestions from the House Budgetary Commission.<\/p>\n
He said even in the mid-1980s when the volume of imports had
\nnot been as big as now, import flows routinely encountered major
\nstagnation at the seaports.<\/p>\n
"You can imagine how serious the stagnation would be now if
\nour imports had increased sharply and steadily over the past
\ndecade along with economic expansion.<\/p>\n
The government introduced pre-shipment inspection in the
\nmiddle of 1985, following concern over the country's notorious
\nred tape at the ports. They then assigned the Geneva-based
\nSociete Generale de Surveillance (SGS) to conduct the
\ninspections.<\/p>\n
In 1991, the government established PT Surveyor Indonesia (SI)
\nwith 76 percent of the shares owned by the government, 20 percent
\nby SGS and four percent by PT Sucofindo, a state owned surveyor
\nfirm. Since then, SGS has served as a subcontractor for SI, which
\nis expected to take over all the pre-inspection jobs from SGS in
\n1995.<\/p>\n
Mar'ie argued that smooth import flows are very important for
\nIndonesia because the manufacturing sector depends largely on
\nimported basic materials, parts and components while investment
\nprojects tend to require imported capital goods.<\/p>\n
Readiness<\/p>\n
"If we return to post-shipment inspection, are our port
\nfacilities and personnel really ready?" he asked rhetorically,
\nadding that such a procedure might lead to increased stagnation
\nat the ports.<\/p>\n
Several analysts and House members have criticized the hiring
\nof SGS as a waste of resources. But for the most part,
\nbusinessmen have welcomed the pre-shipment inspection system due
\nto its great contribution to facilitating import flows.<\/p>\n
Minister Mar'ie yesterday especially expressed concern with
\nthe quality of human resources at the seaports, arguing that good
\nhardware would be useless if they were not managed by good-
\nquality personnel.<\/p>\n
He did not, however, rule out the possibility of not renewing
\nthe contract with SGS after it expires next July.<\/p>\n
"We don't want to depend on a single foreign company. After
\nall, PT Surveyor Indonesia has significantly improved its
\ncapabilities and has opened offices at 16 major ports of origin
\nof Indonesian imports," Mar'ie added.<\/p>\n
He said if the condition still required the hiring of a
\nforeign surveyor company "we could select the company through a
\nselective bidding process."<\/p>\n
Answering another question from the Budgetary Commission,
\nMar'ie said the government would spend about Rp 165.3 billion
\n(US$75.8 million) for the pre-shipment inspection of imports
\nduring the current (1994-1995) fiscal year.<\/p>\n
Of the total, Rp 83.7 billion will be paid to SGS, Rp 43.1
\nbillion to PT Sucofindo (also state-owned) and Rp 38.3 billion to
\nPT Surveyor Indonesia. (rid)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/pre-shipment-inspection-system-will-stay-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}