Observers Call for Complete Customs Authority Reform, Starting from Top Leadership
Prof. Telisa Aulia Falianty, a Senior Lecturer at the Faculty of Economics and Business at the University of Indonesia, has stated that the Directorate General of Customs (Ditjen Bea Cukai) should not be disbanded, but rather undergoes complete reform beginning from its top leadership.
“If it is abolished, who will manage customs and taxation? It will only become worse. The role of customs and taxation is very critical,” Telisa stated. “We need to inspect goods, control the flow of imports and exports, and manage excise duties to reduce negative externalities. So the reform cannot be done half-heartedly.”
According to Telisa, the Customs Authority is essential as every nation requires customs and tax administration. However, recruitment processes need to be improved to ensure that the institution is staffed with people of high integrity.
“It depends heavily on the integrity of individuals, even though there is digitalisation in various customs systems. The system being used is also very important,” she explained.
Telisa has also called for the digitalisation of customs and excise systems to reduce human error and prevent violations by staff members. “As we know, there is significant state revenue leakage there. Customs transactions, trade transactions, and the movement of goods in and out have a major impact,” she said.
Economist Milko Hutabarat of UKI University echoed similar sentiments, stating that the Customs Authority should not be disbanded and replaced with SGS, but rather reformed more firmly, measurably, and transparently.
According to Hutabarat, the Directorate General of Customs has functions in supervision, law enforcement, service facilitation, and optimising state revenue. “To achieve this, reform needs to eliminate corruption points, establish strong risk management through the Authorised Economic Operator (AEO) system, improve human resource quality, establish clear and transparent service standards for the public, and accelerate cross-institutional data integration,” Hutabarat said.
Hutabarat indicated that reform could include personnel replacement from the highest level (the Directorate General) down to staff members. “The current Customs Director General previously came from the military, so he may not yet understand the intricacies of the Customs system. This could be a loophole for officials to evade oversight,” Hutabarat noted.