New regulations needed for new world trade era

New regulations needed for new world trade era

JAKARTA (JP): The government is tightening its control over
the foreign publications which will begin flowing into the
country in larger numbers this year in line with the worldwide
trade liberalization measures.

Attorney General Singgih told a press conference last week
that the government will particularly search for publications
with provocative contents.

Singgih predicted that the number of these publications coming
into Indonesia will increase to take advantage of the new General
Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) which came into force as of
the new year.

The Attorney General's Office has the power to bar any
publication that is deemed not fit for Indonesian readers,
ranging from those considered pornographic to those that contain
communist teachings.

Speaking at an end of the year press conference on Thursday,
Singgih said that another possible impact of the global trade
liberalization measures mandated by GATT is the attempt by
industrialized countries to dump nuclear and industrial waste in
Indonesia.

He said that even before the new GATT, Indonesia seized 214
containers filled with toxic and hazardous waste being dumped by
multinational companies.

Another negative impact of free trade, this one coming through
increasing number of foreign airlines passing Indonesian air, is
air pollution, Singgih said.

Besides air pollution the planes also cause noise pollution,
he added.

Indonesia must anticipate the excesses of trade liberalization
measures, he explained, adding that the nation would also need a
new set of regulations to handle these problems.

He said the rapid economic development which Indonesia has
seen in recent years has also made the country a breeding ground
for many economic crimes.

In 1994, the Attorney General's office was preoccupied with
the handling of the huge scandal at the state Bank Pembangunan
Indonesia (Bapindo) and the allegation that a huge textile
company had been making fictitious exports to cash in on cheap
subsidized loans from the government. Singgih predicted more
economic crimes in 1995 and warned that the perpetrators will
become more clever.

The Attorney General's Office saved Rp 7.2 billion ($3.2
million) of state wealth that would have been lost through
corruption, embezzlement and tax fraud in 1994.

This amount excludes the funds saved from the Bapindo scandal.

Bapindo's total losses are estimated at Rp 1.3 trillion, but
the government has confiscated the assets of its perpetrators to
recuperate some of it.

Singgih said his office had 117 corruption cases, 155 economic
crime cases and 93 narcotics cases between April and October. The
office also had 250 civil cases during the same period. (imn)