Economist Backs Customs Office Sealing of Luxury Jewellery Shops, Emphasises Consistent Enforcement

Economist Supports Customs Office’s Sealing of Luxury Jewellery Shops: ‘Must be Consistent and Serve as a Deterrent’

• Special Report

Jakarta, VIVA – The sealing of several luxury jewellery shops by the Customs Office, allegedly due to maladministration in import procedures, has been praised by various parties. One of them is Professor Telisa Aulia Falianty, a leading academic at the Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Indonesia (FEB UI).

She fully supports the sealing. According to her, this action must be carried out consistently.

“So, I support it, but it must be done consistently. There shouldn’t be any more exceptions. Because the practice of under-invoicing, and other illegal imports that often occur, causes the state to suffer losses and lose billions of rupiah in revenue. At a time when our state budget is in dire need of high revenue, these kinds of leakages must be eradicated,” said Telisa in a statement in Jakarta on Wednesday, 25 February 2026.

Telisa emphasised that the rules must continue to be enforced, given the many instances of leakage that occur in customs and import duties. This effort, she added, should serve as a deterrent to business actors and send a signal to them that the government is now serious.

“Regarding the imported gold, it is suspected that there were violations in the administrative process, so there are goods that have not been registered or are suspected of being illegal. When the goods enter, there are customs duties that must be paid by the importer. Because when these are not paid, it is also considered maladministration. Whether it has not been paid or has not been reported,” she said.

However, she advised that there should be prior socialisation that the government is now enforcing the rules, so that it is not done abruptly.

Because it will have a negative impact and create a precedent that the Indonesian government is not business-friendly, and ultimately business actors will become afraid and so on.

“For example, if they have been warned several times, but are not cooperative, for example, if they are summoned, they do not come and do not report, then there should be a second warning, then a third warning, and only then can a surprise inspection and sealing be carried out. It should be done in stages like that. So that it does not create fear among business actors, that is also what we need to maintain. Because we really need business actors to be willing to invest now,” she said.