Independent body for customs office annulled

Independent body for customs office annulled

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Ministry of Finance has rejected calls for the establishment
of an independent supervisory committee to monitor the country's
customs office, raising doubts about whether measures to reform
the customs office can be successful.

The deputy chairman of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and
Industry (Kadin), Kris Kanter, who has been involved in designing
the customs reform program, said the secretary-general of the
ministry had also rejected demands by the business community and
the International Monetary Fund to set up an independent ethics
committee, which would help curb corruption by customs personnel.

"We regret that the (finance) minister's subordinate has
killed plans to set up the (independent) supervisory committee,"
Kris said.

He said that during initial discussions, the finance ministry
had agreed to the establishment of the independent committee.

But the ministry later reversed its decision, ruling instead
that the committee should comprise only senior officials from the
finance ministry. The committee's role will only be limited to
providing advice, and will not have a supervisory function.

The director general of customs and excise, Permana Agung, was
apparently particularly disappointed by the decision not to
establish an independent ethics committee.

The finance ministry has introduced a set of reform measures
to help improve the customs service in the country.

But many doubt if the reforms will be able to curb corruption
and smuggling, particularly because the measures do not
prioritize eliminating the "mentality of corruption" in the
customs office.

Experts have said that the establishment of an independent
supervisory committee and ethics committee are crucial to
increasing the quality of customs personnel.

Kris said that under the initial reform program, the 25-member
supervisory committee was to be comprised mainly of people from
outside the customs office, including members of non-governmental
organizations, with only five committee members from the
directorate general of customs.