No requirement for RI exports to pass S'pore
No requirement for RI exports to pass S'pore
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The U.S. government has never required Indonesian agricultural
products bound for the U.S. market to be shipped via Singapore
for security inspection, a statement from the U.S. Embassy in
Indonesia said, dismissing earlier media reports as erroneous.
"No new policy regarding U.S. imports of containerized
agricultural products from Indonesia has been implemented, nor is
any being contemplated," the statement said.
The U.S. Embassy was commenting on earlier reports that all
agricultural products bound for the U.S. market had to undergo a
container security check in Singapore in a bid to step up
security against possible terrorism attacks.
The policy is feared to hurt the country's exports as it might
bring additional costs, which would be borne by exporters.
The statement, however, said that any Indonesian cargo, both
agricultural and nonagricultural, being shipped to the U.S. via
Singapore would be subject to a prescreening process.
It explained that in January of this year, the U.S. Customs
launched a new policy called the Container Security Initiative
(CSI) to prevent containerized cargo from being exploited by
terrorists in the wake of the Sept. 11 incident.
The U.S. Customs is focusing on 20 major foreign seaports
worldwide in which 70 percent of all U.S.-bound sea containers go
through. So far, 11 ports have joined the CSI. Singapore joined
the CSI on June 4 of this year.
The statement said that Indonesian cargo shipped to the U.S.
via Indonesian ports would be handled as before, but would be
subject to additional scrutiny upon arrival at its destination.
The U.S. is the largest market for Indonesia's products,
including agricultural goods. Indonesian agricultural exports
include tea, coffee, shellfish, black pepper and rubber. In the
2002 fiscal year, which ran from October 2001 to September 2002,
agricultural, fishery and forestry exports to the U.S. amounted
to US$1.7 billion. Meanwhile, Indonesia's agricultural, fishery
and forestry imports from the U.S. amounted to $872 million.
Aimed at advancing the security of sea cargo containers, the
CSI includes using automated information to identify target high-
risk containers and placing U.S customs inspectors at major
foreign seaports to prescreen high-risk containers before
arriving at U.S. ports.
Meanwhile, the Directorate General of Customs and Excise at
the Ministry of Finance said it had no plans to follow in
Singapore's footsteps.
"The government has no plans to follow Singapore because we
have different interests," Susiwijono, the spokesman for the
Directorate General of Customs and Excise, said. He did not
provide any further details.