'Boediono must deal with customs office'

'Boediono must deal with customs office'

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Indonesian Importers Association (Ginsi) urged on Monday
Minister of Finance Boediono to immediately take serious steps to
deal with the corrupt and inefficient customs service.

"Only bold measures would be able to address the severe
problems within the customs service, given the strong opposition
from the vested interests within the customs directorate general
to any reform," Amirudin Saud, chairman of the association, said.

Citing an example, Amirudin pointed to the membership of an
advisory committee the government was now preparing to monitor
and advise the customs directorate general regarding the
implementation of a 17-point reform of the customs service.

"I learn that the members of the advisory committee who are
proposed by Customs and Excise Duty Director General Permana
Agung are mostly those who are close to him and who are most
likely willing to toe his line," he added.

The membership of the advisory committee, as stipulated in the
customs reform agreement with the International Monetary Fund, is
supposed to include the representatives of organizations which
often deal with the customs service such as importers, exporters
and industrial associations, Amirudin said.

He urged the finance minister, who directly supervises the
customs service, to thoroughly check all members nominated for
both the advisory committee and the steering committee which will
soon be set up as part of the reform of the customs service.

Amirudin warned that if the two committees included mostly
close associates or cronies of the customs director general, the
whole reform measures would be impaired.

Permana was not available to comment on Monday.

However, in a special interview with The Jakarta Post last
Thursday, Permana said he was committed to reforming the agency
based on the 17-point programs recommended by the International
Monetary Fund (IMF).

He said details of the program will be discussed by a steering
committee chaired by Boediono and including the representatives
of the business sector. This committee is expected to finalize
details of the program by the end of this year so the reform
program could be implemented next year.

He said one of the most important points of the programs was
the establishment of the Ethical Code Committee, which would
comprise officials from the Ministry of Finance's Inspectorate
General, General Secretariat, Customs and Excise Office and
representatives of business community.

This committee would be empowered to sack officials implicated
in serious corruption.

Permana noted that under the existing regulations, it may take
years to sack a governmental official, even if he or she was
proved to have been involved in corruption. The Ethical Code
Committee is expected to cut short the process.

Permana said under the 17-point program, the government would
also establish a Customs and Excise Ombudsman to watch over the
behavior of customs and excise officials. The non-governmental
organization Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) will be requested
to do the same job as the ombudsman.

Businessmen and experts have lauded the 17-point programs as a
positive step in the efforts to reform the customs office, but
they warned it would be difficult to reform the office given the
corrupt mentality of its low-paid officials. They said tough
measures against corrupt officials should be coupled with an
increase in their salaries.

17-point program at customs and excise
1. Implementing a new row system
2. Developing the customs electronic data exchange community
3. Improving the payment procedure
4. Importers registration in line with customs' requirements
5. Optimizing supervisions in pre-clearance and clearance stages
6. Redefining the verification activities
7. Developing the program for duty arrears collection
8. Improving the pricing data base
9. Forming a special ethical code for the customs office
10. Enhancing employees' welfare
11. Forming an internal supervision unit
12. Developing a system to receive complaints from the public
13. Forming the ethical code committee
14. Forming a special customs and excise ombudsman
15. Forming the customs and excise advisory committee
16. Forming a forum on customs and excise facilities
17. Upgrading the customs and excise website