Customs told port pile-up could affect trade

Customs told port pile-up could affect trade

JAKARTA (JP): The Overseas Ship Owners' Representatives
Association (OSRA) warned that unless the customs office took
serious steps Tanjung Priok port's container pile-up could create
serious problems.

OSRA chairman Lim Kean Joo said in a letter to the director
general of customs and excise that the current pile-up of
containers at the port could affect imports and exports.

"There is the added concern of reports of conferences abroad
considering placing the issue of delays to import containers on
their watch lists," Lim wrote, a copy of his letter was made
available here last week.

He said buyers in the United States and Europe were concerned
about reliability. The problems in Tanjung Priok might make them
reluctant to place orders in Indonesia for fear of delays and
cost increases.

"We understand that our members are daily getting inquiries
about the situation from buyers overseas. To mitigate the problem
we urge that any possible steps be taken to alleviate the
situation," Lim said.

He said OSRA members were concerned that the current container
pile-up could lead to congestion like in 1995, when the average
ship's waiting time was over 24 hours and yard occupancy ratio
reached over 70 percent.

Last month, the yard occupancy ratio at Tanjung Priok reached
a critical 97 percent before the authorities removed containers
every day to adjacent privately owned container terminals.

Economist I Nyoman Moena suggested the customs office combine
preshipment inspections of imports and post-release audits to
reduce the high stack of containers.

"When we had a preshipment inspection system we never had
container pile-ups that high (97 percent). It seems to me that
the system is not yet working," Moena was quoted by Antara as
saying Sunday.

Moena is a former president of PT Surveyor Indonesia, which
undertook preshipment inspections of imports from 1991 to last
March when the customs office reinstated a combination of on-
arrival inspections, duty and tax self-assessments and post-
release audits.

Importers have blamed slow customs service for the recent
pile-up, while the customs office has blamed importers'
unwillingness to use electronic data interchange.

The Ministry of Transportations has also blamed importers for
the pile-up. It said importers deliberately delayed picking up
their containers from Tanjung Priok's container yards for as long
as six days because they were only charged a one-day fee.

And President Soeharto, after a report from the transportation
minister, ordered him to force container owners to remove their
containers immediately after they arrived at the port.

But forcing importers to clear their containers right after
arrival will be futile if importers cannot process their import
documents quickly.

"Rather than blaming each other, while imports increase, why
doesn't the customs office ask PT Surveyor Indonesia to be its
working partner again," Nyoman Moena said.

Moena said the current pile-up at Tanjung Priok would cause
losses to everyone concerned. (rid)