Customs' EDI hit by problems

Customs' EDI hit by problems

JAKARTA (JP): The customs electronic data interchange (EDI)
system is still beset with problems and only 222 or 2.7 percent
of the 8,000 licensed importers have been connected to the
system, importers told a seminar here yesterday.

Chairman of the Indonesian Importers Association (Ginsi)
Amirudin Saud told the seminar on EDI that more than 10 weeks
after its launch only 222 importers were on line to customs' EDI.

"But even among this small number, only 102 importers have
actively submitted data electronically to the customs office,"
another importer who preferred anonymity said.

The other importers still prepare their customs declarations
on diskettes and physically take them to customs, thereby
nullifying the purported benefit of EDI which is minimizing
physical contact and reducing corruption.

Importers who use the diskette system still have to hand a
printed version of their customs declaration to banks for duty
and tax payment purposes.

The EDI system was designed to enable importers to send their
customs declarations electronically to the customs office and
electronically pay import duties to their recipient banks.

The system electronically connects the customs office with
importers, shipping firms, foreign exchange banks and port and
airport authorities.

Importers who use diskettes, however, have to bear additional
costs. EDI service shops (which handle diskettes) charge
importers Rp 10,000 (US$4) for the data entry and transmission of
the first three harmonized system (HS) codes and Rp 500 for the
next additional code, Rp 20,000 for classification, valuation,
entry and transmission of the first three codes and Rp 1,000 for
the next additional code, according to importers.

The biggest beneficiary is the customs service itself which
has had their data entry load reduced, importers complained.

Amirudin urged the government to issue a ruling allowing tax
payments to be integrated into the EDI system.

He said the government should revise existing laws which still
require importers to show their tax invoices to the tax office in
order to obtain customs clearance.

"Without such a revision, the EDI system cannot function
optimally: the system is there, but it is delayed by the tax
office which is not yet on-line," he said on the sidelines of the
seminar.

Amirudin said there should be better coordination among the
directorate general of customs and excise, the directorate
general of taxes and the monetary authorities.

Amirudin said importers were also facing other difficulties at
seaports. This included the coming implementation of a
ministerial decree on the reduction in the length of time
containers could be stockpiled at ports' container yards free of
charge from five to three days.

Ministerial decree No. 17, 1997, effective starting Aug. 1,
stipulates that stockpiling fees for loaded and empty containers
will be imposed from the fourth day after unloading from ships.

The ruling applies to containers with a "full container load"
(FCL) status.

The ruling stipulates that after the third day an FCL
container is piled at the container yard, it will be removed to a
depot outside the port area. Importers must pay Rp 550,000 per
container for this.

Amirudin said that for this reason, he was certain that when
the ministerial decree takes effect on Aug. 1, importers would
opt to use containers with the status "less container load"
(LCL).

He said that by using LCL containers, importers would have not
only three days to stockpile their cargo free of charge at the
port's container yard, but 10 days.

"Importers know they could never get their containers out of
the port in only three days," he said.

Apart from that importers using LCL containers would only be
required to pay stockpiling fees at the port's conventional
warehouses at Rp 200 (8 U.S. cents) a ton or Rp 300 per cubic
meter, depending on the type of goods.

"Although it is slightly more expensive to use LCL containers,
importers would take that risk," he said.

He said two days were needed by an importer to locate its
containers, complete the necessary import notification forms and
take care of import duties through its foreign exchange bank.

The company must then obtain a bill of loading from a shipping
firm and pay insurance if the container is transported out of the
port. This process takes a day, he said.

The importer company must also complete its customs documents
and contact state-owned port management company, PT Pelindo, to
transport the containers out of the port. This process also takes
a day.

Finally, a container cannot always be transported immediately
out of the port because although the port is open 24 hours to
incoming ships, the importer's warehouse operates only during
business hours.

This means another day is spent at the port because a
container's stockpiling time is calculated from the time the
container enters the port.

"Thus, at least five days are needed to get containers out of
the port," he said. (pwn/vin)