Customs EDI to cover more ports

JAKARTA (JP): The Directorate General of Customs and Excise will apply the Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) system to document processing at three main ports -- Tanjung Perak (East Java), Semarang (Central Java) and Belawan (North Sumatra), a senior official said.

The directorate general's information and data center director Eddy Abdulrachman said here yesterday that the customs office would install the system in Tanjung Perak in the middle of this month.

"After two months we'll apply the system in Semarang and then in Belawan," he said.

He said the customs office would gradually apply the system in all Indonesian ports, but he did not elaborate.

He said Tanjung Perak port was vital for the economic growth of the eastern part of Indonesia. Many imported goods enter Indonesia through the port.

He said every year about 100,000 import documents were processed at Tanjung Perak -- the second largest port after Tanjung Priok, where about 500,000 documents were processed annually.

The customs office introduced the EDI system at Tanjung Priok in April but the system is not expected to operate fully until 2000.

Most parties involved in the clearance of imports through the port such as importers, freight forwarders, shipping companies, foreign exchange banks and tax offices have yet to be connected to the EDI system.

Edi said the customs office would gradually require all importers to use the EDI system. (bnt)