New customs rulings issued to improve service

Rendi A. Witular, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The government has issued three new regulations to improve the country's customs services and to curb smuggling and fraud during clearance.

The new rulings, which were made available to The Jakarta Post on Wednesday, will take effect on Jan. 1, 2003.

Two regulations aim to ensure faster service for importers, that is Ministerial Decree No. 453/2002 on import clearance procedures and Ministerial Decree No. 455/2002 on the requirement for appointed banks to handle the payment of duties and levies.

The other ruling, that is Ministerial Decree No. 454/2003 on importer registration, is aimed at obtaining accurate data on importers, identifying crooked ones and preventing them from committing fraud in the future.

Novrial, the head of the customs reform program at the directorate general of customs and excise, told The Post that the regulations were part of the agency's ongoing reform program to ensure the smooth flow of goods and to fight corruption and fraud at the agency.

To simplify and speed up import clearance, Decree No. 453 obliges importers to make payments at appointed banks which are on-line with the customs office and allow them to fill out administrative papers through electronic media.

The decree also stipulates that air or sea forwarders have to notify the customs office about imported goods within 24 hours prior to the arrival of the carriers.

It also says that two years after importation, the customs office can "verify" all notices of import (PIB) documents owned by importers.

Decree No. 455 on appointed banks stipulates any bank can be approved to handle payment of duties and levies as long as it has facilities at all its branches which enable them to electronically connect with the customs office.

"We have designed the payment system to make it as simple as possible," said Nofrial.

With regards Decree No. 454 on importer registration, Nofrial said through the registration, the agency expected to be able identify smugglers or those who lied about the real value of their imports.

To date, the agency has been relying on data provided by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, which is the only institution authorized to issue licenses to importers.

However, Nofrial said that a lot of data from the ministry was misleading as many businessmen submitted fake addresses and identities to obtain their licenses.

Through the registration, the customs office wants to verify and update the data provided by the ministry.

Nofrial added importers could start registering their companies on Nov. 11 at the customs' website www.beacukai.go.id.

Initially, the customs office planned to call all importers to register themselves at the offices, but the plan was later dropped over worries that the importers might collude with custom officials.

After collecting data on importers, the agency will send its officials to check out the addresses of all licensed importers and examine their operations. The importers are then classified into low or high risk categories.

After completing the registration, the customs office will issue an SRP certificate stating that the holders have been registered. The certificates will be sent via mail to importers.

Based on the decree, importers who fail to register by Jan. 1, 2003 will still be given one more chance for import clearance. After that, the customs office will not provide them with services.

Several importers contacted by the Post on Wednesday refused to comment on the new rulings, saying they were not yet aware of them.