Darwin improves customs service

JAKARTA (JP): A preclearance facility for air and sea exports from Darwin, Australia, to eastern Indonesian was launched on Wednesday at the Frances Day shipyard in Darwin.

The customs facility will clear exports of products or equipment leaving Darwin, the Northern Territory's Department of Asian Relations and Trade said in a statement received here.

Department secretary Brian Ely and Indonesia's director general of Customs and Excise R.B. Permana Agung witnessed the launching ceremony at the yard belonging to Perkins Shipping Pty Ltd.

A second consignment under the scheme was later cleared for air-freight dispatch to Kupang from Darwin Airport.

The facility will benefit mining companies operating in eastern Indonesia, which depend on imports from Australia for their equipment supplies, the statement said.

It also will increase the opportunities for Darwin-based companies to serve mining operations in Indonesia, it said.

Two Indonesian customs officials have been assigned to conduct clearance of the import duty program in Darwin.

Ely believed the preclearance facility will contribute to the Northern Territory government's objective of attracting companies doing business in Indonesia to Darwin. (02)