Customs to conduct post auditing of imports soon
Customs to conduct post auditing of imports soon
JAKARTA (JP): Director General of Customs and Excise Soehardjo
Soebardi said yesterday that his office would soon carry out the
post-release audit of imports to ensure all import duties are
paid.
Soehardjo said the customs office had not yet conducted post-
release audit since it resumed its inspection authority on April
1 and would soon pursue it as was mandated by the 1995 Customs
Law.
"Basically we don't want to audit importers all the time...
But because of the 1995 Customs Law, we have to do it," Soehardjo
said.
The customs law necessitates a self-assessment system for
calculating import duties, selective on-arrival inspection of
imports and post-entry audit of import documents.
Critics have said the post-release audit could create
uncertainty for importers as auditors could unilaterally charge
importers with higher import duties.
Soehardjo declined to say if his office would audit all
importers. But he indicated that post-auditing would only cover
goods which had gone through the "green lane".
Consignments going through the green lane are not subject to
customs physical inspections. Only goods going through the red
lane are physically inspected by the customs office when they are
cleared from customs areas.
Soehardjo said the post-release audit was necessary to cross-
check information stated in import customs declarations submitted
by importers to clear their goods.
He stressed that not all importers were honest in filling out
customs declarations. Therefore, post-auditing of such imports
was necessary.
The customs office has said that post-auditing is a backup
system for importers' self-assessment on calculating import
duties and selective on-arrival inspections.
In a bid to reduce congestion and container pile-up at
Jakarta's Tanjung Priok port, the customs office had directed
most imported goods through the green lane.
Soehardjo said the number of consignments going through the
red lane had been decreasing from time to time and now they
accounted for less than 20 percent of all imports going through
Priok port.
"It means that more than 80 percent of imports can be cleared
directly by importers without customs physical inspections,"
Soehardjo was quoted by Antara as saying.
To expedite goods clearance from Tanjung Priok, customs has
called on all importers to subscribe to the customs electronic
data interchange (EDI).
The system was introduced to reduce document processing,
eliminate physical contact and minimize opportunities for customs
officials to extort money from importers.
But the system has not run smoothly due to the slow increase
in the number of banks participating in the project. Necessary
parties which should have been involved in projects including
importers, freight forwarders, shipping companies, foreign
exchange banks and tax offices have shown negligence in
connecting to the EDI system.
The customs office expected the EDI system at Tanjung Priok to
be in full operation by the year 2000. (icn)