Inspection of air cargo by surveyors urged

JAKARTA (JP): Importers, doubting the quality of local customs services, are proposing that the government continue allowing a private surveyor company to inspect imported air cargo at their points of loading.

"To avoid stagnation of goods, the government, which now plans to assign customs offices to inspect imported air cargoes at Indonesian airports beginning early next month, should allow importers to choose another alternative," Chairman of Importers Association of Indonesia Amirudin Saud told The Jakarta Post yesterday.

The government, under the deregulatory measures it announced on May 23, declared that imports of any value transported by air must be inspected by customs offices at airports beginning on July 1.

The new policy revises a Presidential decree issued in 1985, which said that imports worth more than US$5,000 could be inspected by a designated surveyor company at points of loading. Importers were then given the freedom to choose such a pre- shipment inspection or have their goods, if valued at $5,000 or less, inspected by customs offices at points of unloading.

Amirudin said that according to regulation, customs offices are required to finish goods inspection within four hours.

"But so far, we need seven to 10 days to have our goods of less than $5,000 inspected by customs offices," he said. "If we give some bribes, such inspections can be finished within three days."

"This indicates that on-arrival inspection by customs offices has raised cost of imports," he said.

Furthermore, data used by customs offices to verify imported goods are frequently irrelevant or out-dated, he added.

He said importers doubt whether the government's new policy on the on-arrival inspections will help expedite the flow of goods at airports.

As a result, his association sent letters to nine ministers on Monday proposing that the government allow importers the alternative of having their goods inspected by a surveyor at points of loading.

The government has assigned PT Surveyor Indonesia, an Indonesian-Swiss joint venture, to inspect Indonesia's imports at points of loading. But the company, due to its limited capability, has assigned the Geneva-based Societe Generale de Surveillance (SGS) to carry out some of its inspection jobs at a number of points of loading.

"In response to our letter, we have heard that the government will assign its deregulation team to consider our proposal," Amirudin said. "We hope the government accepts our proposal and announces its decision before July 1, the date for the implementation of the May 23 policy concerning goods inspection." (riz)