Customs urged to cast aside past practices

JAKARTA (JP): The Directorate General of Customs and Excise was urged yesterday to uphold the law and cast aside its past corrupt practices when it resumes its inspection authority on April 1.

Legislator Saleh Khalid from the Moslem-oriented United Development Party faction suggested the government allow a transition period from the current pre-shipment inspection to the on-arrival inspection and post audit system.

"The transition period should not be too long, however. The customs office should take necessary preparations so that when the new system comes into force it does not create any problems," Saleh said.

The current pre-shipment inspection system for imports began in mid-1985, when President Soeharto stripped the customs office of its inspection authority due to its officials' rampant corruption.

Chairman of the Indonesian Footwear Association, Anton J. Supit, said yesterday that the pre-shipment inspection system had guaranteed businesspeople both smooth flows of imports and a high degree of certainty.

Besides, Anton said, the current pre-shipment inspection system should have given the customs office enough time to prepare its personnel to implement a more professional and responsible inspection service.

The government, through a finance minister decree, decided to return the inspection of imports to the customs office beginning April 1 when the 1995 customs law takes effect. However, the government has yet to decide whether to retain or end the pre- shipment inspection system.

Customs Director R.B. Permana Agung said that his office would start the trial operations of the new customs clearance system today.

The trial operations are to be at the country's four main ports; Tanjung Priok in Jakarta, Tanjung Perak in Surabaya, East Java, Belawan in Medan, North Sumatra, and Ujungpandang, South Sulawesi.

Permana said his office would focus the trial operations on Tanjung Priok as it handled 70 percent of the country's total imports and exports.

Permana said the trials would concentrate on documentation rather than physical inspections so they would not affect the customs services.

"Importers should follow the usual service channels, it's only the documents they use that will be different," Permana said.

House member Saleh has cautioned the customs office not to tinker with the post-audit system, warning that any failure would have a detrimental effect on Indonesia's competitiveness.

"Customs officials must work more efficiently and effectively. They should also consolidate their office's internal workings, especially on matters related to organization, work orientation, human resources development and infrastructure," Saleh said.

He also told customs officials not to make use of the new customs law and ruling on customs clearance for their own ends.

"This means that customs officials must uphold the people's trust given to them through the law," Saleh was quoted by Antara as saying.

The chairman of the Indonesian Importers Association, Amirudin Saud, shared Saleh's suggestion, saying that the fate of the new customs clearance system would depend on the customs officials' mentality.

"If their mentality remains the same, namely remaining corrupt, they will not ensure the smooth flows of goods because they will hold the goods up deliberately to extort money from importers," Amirudin said.

He noted that the customs law, as well as the finance minister's decree on the customs release system, contained loopholes which could be used by customs officials to extort money from importers. (rid)