Importers urge release of machinery

JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian Importers Association (GINSI) called on the government on Monday to release some 800 items of imported secondhand machinery and trucks for palm oil companies and contractors in Kalimantan and Sumatra.

The goods, imported by companies specializing in buying and modifying used machinery, have been at Jakarta's Tanjung Priok Port since December awaiting their official release by the customs office, GINSI chairman Amiruddin Saud told The Jakarta Post.

The customs office could not issue the permit without a recommendation from the Ministry of Industry and Trade, which in turn needed the vehicle identification number (VIN) and type registration code (TPT), he said.

Amiruddin argued that used vehicles could not be issued such documents.

He blamed the problem on inconsistencies within the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

The Directorate General of International Trade, which was supposed to handle the imports, did not have a problem releasing them but it was blocked by the Directorate General of Machinery, Metal, Electronic and Multifarious Industries, he said.

Amiruddin urged Minister of Industry and Trade Yusuf Kalla to take action to settle the matter.

"Don't make importers suffer over disputes within the ministry," he said. (10)