Preshipment inspection<\/p>\n
The government's decision to extend the contract for import
\ninspection with PT Surveyor Indonesia for another two years
\nstarting yesterday should be welcomed. The move also
\nautomatically guarantees the continued use of the preshipment
\ninspection system for Indonesian imports until at least 1997.<\/p>\n
Over the last few weeks, the House of Representatives'
\ndeliberations on the customs bill have been dominated by debates
\nover the continuation or abolishment of the preshipment
\ninspection system. Importers and almost all other port users are
\nfully in favor of the maintenance of the present system, while
\nthe customs service naturally wants to reinstate the previous
\nsystem of on arrival inspection.<\/p>\n
Importers, who apparently still suffer from the trauma of
\ndealing with what they called bureaucratic inertia and corruption
\nin the customs service in the period before June, 1985, are
\nobviously among the happiest with the government's decision.<\/p>\n
We should also remember that in as far as Indonesia is
\nconcerned, when we refer to importers we do not talk about
\ntraders as in most developed countries, but about industrialists
\nand investors. That is because 50 percent of Indonesia's non-oil
\nimports, which are handled by PT Surveyor Indonesia, consist of
\nindustrial basic and intermediate materials, 43 percent of
\ncapital goods and only 7 percent of consumer goods.<\/p>\n
The composition of the imports also indicates how crucial
\nimport facilitation is for the country's manufacturing sector,
\nwhich now accounts for more than 70 percent of total non-oil
\nexports, and for the implementation of investment projects. The
\npivotal role of smooth import flows also can be judged from the
\nexport-led development strategy the government has been pursuing
\nto expand the economy.<\/p>\n
The continuation of the present inspection system, which was
\nintroduced in the middle of 1985, also means that the government
\nhas been satisfied with the performance of PT Surveyor Indonesia
\nand its sub-contractor, the Geneva-based Societe Generale de
\nSurveillance (SGS).<\/p>\n
PT Surveyor Indonesia, which is 76 percent owned by the
\ngovernment, did not take over the responsibility for the
\ninspection job from SGS until early in 1992. But now, after less
\nthan four years, the company is handling 85 percent of
\nIndonesia's non-oil imports through its offices in 18 countries.
\nThat means that the process of transfer of technology from SGS
\nhas been running smoothly.<\/p>\n
It is nonetheless too early to expect PT Surveyor Indonesia to
\ndo the job wholly by itself. Moreover, we think, it is
\neconomically inefficient for the company to further extend its
\noverseas branches or offices to countries from which Indonesia
\nmakes only small volumes of imports. Hence, it made a lot of
\nbusiness sense that PT Surveyor Indonesia also extended its
\ntechnical-assistance agreement with SGS for another two years.
\nHopefully, PT Surveyor Indonesia will be able to further improve
\nits capability so that it will no longer have to depend entirely
\non the government contract, but will eventually be capable of
\ngetting jobs from private companies.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/preshipment-inspection-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}