Customs urged to cast aside past practices

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)