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The bills, which were submitted to the House in March, would replace the outdated customs and excise laws, two of the country's many legal products inherited from the Dutch administration in the colonial era.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)