No transition period for new customs rules

JAKARTA (JP): The government will not give any transition period for the implementation of the new customs procedures which comes into force on April 1, the customs office said yesterday.

The Director of Tariffs and Customs Prices, Daeng M. Nazier, told a seminar the customs office would not accept any surveyor inspection reports on imported goods after April 1.

"There will be no transition period. So, surveyor inspection reports will have no legal value after April 1," Daeng said.

The pre-shipment inspection contract with PT Surveyor Indonesia is to end on March 31 and many import consignments covered with surveyor's inspection reports will still arrive in Indonesia in April.

Under the current preshipment inspection system, sea-cargo imports worth over US$5,000 must be inspected at points of loading by the designated surveyor company, state-owned PT Surveyor Indonesia, which then issues a surveyor inspection report.

After a report is written imports may not be reinspected by customs officials at unloading points in Indonesia unless an intelligence note necessitates physical inspection.

Several importers raised the issue of surveyor reports during a question and answer session.

The Chairman of the Indonesian Importers Association, Amirudin, demanded the customs office cancel all duty bills demanding more payment for imports covered by surveyor inspection reports.

Amirudin said the classification, prices and duties of imported goods were determined by the designated surveyor company, not by importers.

"Moreover, the verification division at the directorate general of customs and excise re-examine only the documents, but do not conduct physical inspections," he said.

Responding to Amirudin's demand, the Director General of Customs and Excise, Soehardjo Soebardi, said importers should not worry about such duty bills because under the new customs clearance system, they would still be able to object to such bills.

To settle such problems, Soehardjo said a post-entry audit of imports should be carried out to determine how much duty should be paid.

The current preshipment inspection system has been in place for 12 years but will be replaced by a combination of self- assessment, on-arrival inspections and post-release audits to determine customs duty.

Several groups, including the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, American and European busnessmen have requested a one-to-two year transition period to ensure the smooth flow of goods.

They said a transition period would benefit importers and the customs office because implementing a new clearance system would need some preparation by the customs office.

Amirudin asked the customs office to prepare its staff, especially those stationed on the frontline, so they could serve importers better.

"To implement the 1995 customs law, customs officials stationed in the front line must be those who are professional in their fields. Experience shows various problems emerge on the front line," Amirudin said.

He said the customs office should provide better services to business than Surveyor Indonesia.

Soehardjo promised a better customs service to all involved but demanded all players, especially importers, be transparent and honest.

The customs director, Permana Agung, said the new customs procedures would be simpler than the present system.

For example, importers would no longer have to submit import plans to the customs office before importation, Permana said.

He said the customs office would deal mostly with documents, while physical inspections of imports would be used sparingly and carried out randomly or if intelligence necessitated physical inspection.

Soehardjo promised the customs office would process all customs-related documents submitted by importers within an hour provided they subscribed to the electronic data interchange system. (rid)