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)