Customs director vows to improve service

Customs director vows to improve service

JAKARTA (JP): Customs director Permana Agung has again pledged
to facilitate smooth flows of goods through Tanjung Priok port by
forging closer coordination with banks and customs brokers.

Permana said the customs office could not speed up the
clearance of goods from the customs area without help from banks,
customs brokers and the port authority.

"I cannot blame anybody for the current piling-up of
containers at Tanjung Priok because every related party has tried
its best to make improvements," he said.

Permana said he had ordered the head of Tanjung Priok's
customs office, Noek Safroeroh, to coordinate with banks and
customs brokers to speed up the moving of containers out of the
port's container terminals.

Antara reported yesterday that containers took up 86 percent
of the terminals' capacity, down from 97 percent a few days ago.

Noek said her office had tried hard to speed up customs
document processing to keep goods moving.

She said the piling-up of containers was largely because of a
big increase in the flow of goods through the port since April 1,
when the customs office regained its inspection authority.

The customs service was stripped of its import inspection
authority in mid-1985.

A preshipment inspection system was introduced and the
government-appointed surveyor inspected goods at loading points
here and overseas. This system was scrapped on March, 31.

Importers and customs brokers have blamed the slow processing
of customs documents for the slow movement of goods. They also
complained that too many import consignments had been ordered to
the red lane, therefore requiring physical inspection.

A spokesman for state-owned port management company PT
Pelabuhan III in Surabaya, Tarjuno, said inadequate customs
clearance had caused slower cargo flows and higher storage levels
at container terminals.

Businessman Sofyan Wanandi complained that the customs service
had tightened the regulatory paperwork for importers and
exporters.

Sofyan said the customs office demanded importers and
exporters report too many things in customs declarations.

"Because of this, we have to add more people just to fill in
those forms," Sofyan said.

The Indonesian Importers Association's chairman, Amirudin
Saud, said a lack of data processing equipment and competent
electronic data interchange (EDI) system operators also
contributed to slow customs clearance.

Most importers had not yet subscribed to the EDI system, and
had to process their customs declarations manually, he said.

"Most of them don't even understand how to prepare customs
declaration forms on a diskette (to be processed at the EDI
system)," Amirudin said.

He urged the customs office to extend the transition period
for the EDI system by eight weeks so importers could better
prepare for the electronic system.

The customs office demands importers submit customs
declarations through the EDI system or diskettes starting today.

The EDI system would speed up document processing and customs
clearance for the release of goods from the port, Permana said.
(rid)