New customs rulings please businessmen
Rendi A. Witular, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Businessmen praised on Wednesday the new rulings on customs, expressing confidence that the rulings would make the clearance procedures at customs offices faster and limit opportunities for crooked officials and importers to commit fraud and smuggling.
"The decrees will make the customs service faster and ease worries that importers may collude with customs officials during the clearance process," said Chairman of the National Economic Recovery Agency (BPEN) Sofjan Wanandi told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.
He was commenting on three decrees issued by the Ministry of Finance last week, Ministerial Decree No. 453/2002 on import clearance procedures, Ministerial Decree No. 455/2002 on the requirement for appointed banks to handle the payment of duties and levies and Ministerial Decree No. 454/2003 on importer registration. The decrees will take effect Jan. 1, 2003.
Both the decrees No. 453 and No. 455 emphasize the use of electronic technology, including the Internet, for importers to make payments and fill out administrative papers. While decree 454 aims to record accurate data about importers.
Under the current system, importers need to meet face to face with customs officials to make payments and complete the administrative forms.
Sofjan said the electronic systems would ensure that importers could clear their goods on time and promote transparency in settling disputes between importers and customs officials.
He said disputes between customs officials and importers often occur over the classification and value of imported goods, which he termed as a "gray area"
"The gray area has often provided an opportunity for corrupt customs officials to extort or collude with importers. The electronic system is expected to prevent such things from occurring," said Sofjan.
Separately, Nofrial, the head of the customs reform program at the Directorate of Customs and Excise, said with the new system, import clearance could be completed in half a day, compared to about three days under the current system.
Under the new decree, importers can pay their duties and levies via appointed banks on-line with the customs offices instead of taking cash to the customs office.
The new decree will also allow well-reputed importers to clear their goods without undergoing physical inspections by customs officials. However, "high risk" importers, that is those who are believed to be prone to fraud, have to undergo such an inspection.
Based on the decree No. 454, the customs office will register all importers and then classify them into the "low risk" and "high risk" categories.
After completing the registration, the customs office will issue an SRP certificate stating that the holders have been registered, which will be a requirement for any importers to clear goods.
As part of the new clearance system, Nofrial said that the customs office planned to impose a fee for importers amounting US$10 per import clearance. A portion of the fee will be used to improve the wages and benefits of customs personnel in hopes that they will feel adequately compensated and less likely to look for bribes.
Akbar Saleh, head of customs affairs at the Indonesian Forwarder Association, expressed support for importer registration, but he worried that the registration could add to the bureaucratic red tape.
"I am worried that it will give importers another burden and uncertainty, since there will be two ministries issuing import licenses," said Akbar.
Today, the Ministry of Industry and Trade is the only agency authorized to issue import licenses, but starting in 2003, the Directorate of Customs and Excise, which is under the Ministry of Finance, will also have such authority.