Customs office asks for budget autonomy
JAKARTA (JP): The Directorate General of Customs and Excise, confident of fully regaining its import inspection powers, has asked for a budget autonomy.
Customs Director Permana Agung said the customs service should perform professionally and with integrity if it wanted to be efficient and effective.
"But we need a broader autonomy in our budget management in introducing changes to make our institution highly accountable," Permana said.
"We are now trying hard to regain our full autonomy ... This way, we will be independent and fully responsible for our services," Permana said.
He said the customs service should be autonomous to deal firmly with corrupt customs official.
Permana said the autonomy should cover matters pertaining to customs services, including the inspection of imports and exports.
The government stripped the customs office of its inspection authority for imports in mid-1985 because of corruption. The government entrusted the Geneva-based Societe Generale de Surveillance and later in 1991 the state-owned PT Surveyor Indonesia to inspect imports at loading points.
The government also stripped the customs office of its export inspection powers. It assigned another state-owned surveyor, PT Sucofindo, to inspect Indonesia's exports for the next two years.
But the customs service expects to regain fully the inspection authority for imports by April 1, when the 1995 Customs Law comes into force.
Importers and exporters, still traumatized by corrupt customs services before 1985, have persistently demanded the government allow them to conduct pre-shipment inspections of imports instead of on-arrival inspections because they feared customs inspections would delay the release of imports thus increasing costs.
Businesspeople think the general environment which made the customs service corrupt has not changed much.
But the customs chief has tried to assure businesspeople that selective on-arrival import inspections and post-entry audits of import documents would be cheaper for the government and businesses.
Most businesses are not convinced, especially in view of the amount of corruption in almost all government agencies.
Permana said some parties, including importers, intentionally mislead people by making negative remarks about the customs office.
"They must understand the challenges the customs office is facing ... and what has been done by the customs office since 1985," Permana said.
He said the customs office had a vision of providing customs services which saved time and money. "Therefore, our success would rely on our ability to meet all prevailing changes, accommodate them and even stay ahead of those changes."
He said the customs office had realized the shift in the customs business, namely from collecting state revenues from import duties and other taxes to ensuring the smooth flow of goods to maintain the country's competitiveness.
"The Directorate General of Customs and Excise, by nature, is an unpopular institution... we delay people, we delay their goods and we take their money... but we are trying to improve our image," Permana said.
He said on-arrival import inspections, which would probably start in April, would not inhibit the flow of imports because most inspections would be done on documents after goods had entered.
Physical inspections would be conducted randomly or when intelligence necessitated the inspection of a container.
Otherwise, the customs office would only check documents submitted by importers, he said
Moreover, if importers were connected with the customs office's electronic data interchange, they could submit documents electronically without having to meet customs officers, Permana said.
Customs officials had 30 days from submitting documents to verify the imported goods' prices. Whenever they find under- invoicing within the set time it could penalize importers.
But if they find the discrepancy after 30 days, they cannot impose a penalty. They could only audit imports, and if they discover discrepancies they could demand the duty shortfall, Permana said. (rid)