Former finance minister Mari'e Muhammad used to compare

Former finance minister Mari'e Muhammad used to compare
customs and excise officers to mechanics in a workshop. Mechanics
will somehow get dirty because of the lubricating oil. It is all
right as long as they do not get soaked in this oil, he said.

How is the integrity of customs and excise officers today?
Well, more than Muhammad expected before, they are now swimming
in lubricating oil.

Presidential Instruction No. 5/1984 clipped much of this
agency's authority. This instruction also introduced pre-shipment
inspection (PSI) to solve customs problems and at that time PSI
was warmly welcomed as the most important self-correction in the
governmental sector.

Today the industry and trade ministry and the IMF, among
others, have suggested voluntary PSI but the business world has
given a mixed reaction. Despite illegal fees, import activities
run smoothly.

What about smuggling? PSI, which needs the services of
independent surveyors, is believed to minimize smuggling. If it
is applied selectively and voluntarily, however, it may not do
anything against smuggling. A smuggler will never voluntarily
take his goods to a surveyor to be inspected.

If PSI is applied only for certain commodities, smugglers can
use the names of other commodities when completing import
declarations. So, PSI can only be effective to prevent smuggling
if it is mandatory for all commodities.

The hurdles are the law and the fees. The present law on
customs affairs must first be amended to make PSI mandatory. As
the surveyors will ask for a contract with the government, there
must be a tax mechanism allowing the government to collect the
fees from businessmen. These problems must first be addressed
before PSI is reinstated.

-- Business Indonesia, Jakarta