Antismuggling task force ready

JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian government will soon establish a special taskforce to combat smuggling in a concerted effort to safeguard state revenues from unpaid import and export duties and protect domestic industries from unfair competition, Coordinating Minister for the Economy Rizal Ramli said on Monday.

"The special team will be coordinated by the Minister of Finance," Rizal told reporters after a Cabinet meeting on economic affairs chaired by Vice President Megawati Soekarnoputri.

He said the government had suspected a high prevalence of import and export smuggling through underinvoicing and an organized, physical contraband trade.

According to Rizal, many businesspeople have complained about the poor performance of the customs service, both in facilitating a smoother inflow of imports and in preventing physical and administrative smuggling activities.

"But there is no plan in the near future to replace the current director general of customs and excise duty," he said.

Rizal added that export smuggling mainly consisted of fuel oils and logs, while the contraband import trade mainly involved electronic goods.

"Certainly, it is reasonably impossible in the short-term to entirely eliminate physical smuggling, given the nation's considerable coastline area," he said.

As a result, the government decided to implement a short-term contingency measure, he said.

"The government will intensify the monitoring and verification of volumes and prices quoted on import and export invoices to prevent administrative smuggling," Rizal pointed out.