New customs law will boost exports: Mar'ie
New customs law will boost exports: Mar'ie
JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Finance Mar'ie Muhammad said here
yesterday that the new customs and excise bills, currently being
deliberated in the House of Representatives, will stimulate
export activities.
"Procedures for exports in the draft laws will be less
restrictive than those for imports," he told the House at the
start of the deliberation process.
The minister said that the less restrictive procedures will
minimize the customs officials' intervention in handling export
goods.
The bills, which were submitted to the House in March, would
replace the outdated customs and excise laws, two of the
country's many legal products inherited from the Dutch
administration in the colonial era.
Mar'ie said the customs bill would provide a stronger legal
foundation for increasingly globalized trade activities.
The duty bill, on the other hand, would give the people
significant protection from products such as drugs and alcoholic
beverages.
The minister added that the less restrictive procedures to be
imposed on exports will ensure a smooth flow of the country's
export products.
"The different treatment will be an important facility in
stimulating export activities," he said.
Under the proposed law, export documents will be checked
instead of the actual export goods, with the exception of certain
commodities which require a special inspection ruling.
Goods coming into the country, on the other hand, will be
subject to a physical inspection in their country of origin.
At present, Indonesia's imports are inspected by the Geneva-
based Societe Generale de Surveillance (SGS) in cooperation with
the state-owned surveying firm PT Surveyor Indonesia.
The government agreed recently to renew the cooperation
contract for another two years amid criticism from economists,
who say that the preshipment inspection system, besides being
very costly, is against the trade liberalization trend.
The critics favor a post-inspection system.
Preshipment
In yesterday's deliberation session, the ruling Golongan Karya
(Golkar) faction in the House raised the same problem and
questioned the government's decision to renew the contract with
the SGS.
Mar'ie defended the preshipment system, saying that the system
is needed to prevent possible congestion in Indonesia's ports.
"The decision was made because the conditions of hard and soft
wares in most Indonesian ports are still inadequate to support
the post-audit system," the minister said.
The minister, however, said that the decision was not final,
adding that the preshipment system could be replaced into the
post-system when the facilities at the country's ports have been
adequate.
"We are now working on a number of projects to upgrade and
expand existing ports," he explained.
The proposed laws, like other newly approved legal products
such as capital market and tax laws, would stipulate both
administrative and criminal sanctions.
The proposed customs law would set up a maximal import tariff
of 40 percent in conformity with the tariff reduction program
under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade.
The highest import tariff is 175 percent at present, excluding
the 100 percent surcharge imposed on certain goods. (hen)