New customs system 'creates uncertainty'

New customs system 'creates uncertainty'

JAKARTA (JP): Importers are concerned by uncertainties in some
areas of the new customs clearance system, analysts said here
yesterday.

I Nyoman Moena, a former president of PT Surveyor Indonesia
and currently a trade analyst, and Munti Yarso of PT SGS Services
Indonesia identified four elements of the new system which were
causing problems in the customs clearance of imports.

They are related to the transaction value of imported goods,
tariff classification, customs' decision to direct imported goods
to green or red lanes and the post entry-auditing of imports.

"Uncertainties could jeopardize the conducive to business
climate that we are building up," Moena told a business luncheon
at the World Trade Center.

The government implemented a combination of on-arrival
inspection and post-entry audit systems with self assessment of
import duties in April as part of its enforcement of the new
customs law.

The system replaced the pre-shipment inspection of imports
system which was started in mid-1985 to bypass the then
corruption-infested customs service.

Munti said the post-entry audit part of the new customs
clearance procedures created the most uncertainties for
importers.

Worse still, importers were still completely in the dark about
the criteria for post auditing, he said.

"As the criteria for post auditing are not yet clear, you
importers must be ready at all times to receive the customs
auditors who will come knocking at your doors in the near
future," Munti said at the meeting.

Moena said that the post auditing of imports created a high
degree of uncertainty because importers never knew when it would
be conducted or whether they had to pay additional import duties.

Director of Verification Roy Ronald Lino has said that the
customs office would use risk management to determining post
auditing of imports and it would notify importers beforehand
about any audit to be conducted.

Munti said transaction value and tariff classification also
worried importers.

Transaction value and tariff classification determine the duty
importers have to pay.

The new customs clearance system follows the international
harmonized system on tariff classifications and General Agreement
on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) valuation code in determining the
transaction value of imported goods.

"Most importers still do not know what kind of animal the GATT
valuation code is," Munti said.

He said customs officials and importers often differed on
tariff classification -- they were not sure whether a tariff
should be five percent or 10 percent or even 40 percent.

Moena added: "tariff classification can always be corrected
and corrections depend on who is in charge. So, here again it is
full of uncertainties for importers."

He said importers also never knew when their goods would be
taken to the red lane for physical inspection or the green lane
for direct clearance.

"Again there are no clear-cut criteria here and this is
another source of uncertainty," Moena said.

The customs office has said it will send imported goods to the
red lane only if it receives an intelligence note which
necessitates physical inspection.

And director general of customs and excise, Soehardjo
Soebardi, has repeatedly said that importers had no need to worry
in their dealings with customs officials, provided they declare
their goods correctly.

Moena said the customs office should clear up the
uncertainties by explaining the procedures and criteria to
importers and the general public.

"Whatever the system, it should be fully transparent and
should not create uncertainties in the business sector," Moena
said.

Moena suggested the customs office give importers the freedom
to choose either pre-shipment inspection or on-arrival inspection
for their consignments.

He said the customs office could also contract inspection work
to PT Surveyor Indonesia which has extensive branches overseas.

Rudy J. Pesik, president of trading firm Pinter Pesik
International and freight forwarding firm PT Birotika Semesta,
said the customs office should also improve its electronic data
interchange system.

He said the system was too simple and could not yet
disseminate simultaneously information on imports to all
connected parties, including banks, the port and airport
authorities.

"The customs electronic data interchange system is more like
an electronic transfer system than a data interchange system," he
said. (rid)