Physical inspection will create problems
Physical inspection will create problems
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Indonesian importers are wary of the customs service's plan to
subject imports of electronic goods, textiles, footwear and toys
to physical inspections upon arrival, pointing out that the
procedure would only create more loopholes for collusion and
corruption, hinder the flow of goods and cause congestion at
ports.
"The new procedure, scheduled to be enforced next month, is
simply a panic reaction from the customs and excise directorate
general to the sharp criticism of its utterly substandard
performance," Amiruddin Saud, chairman of the Indonesian
Importers Association (Ginsi) said over the weekend.
The real problem, he added, is not lack of inspection but the
technical incompetence and venality of customs officials.
The Directorate General of Customs and Excise revealed the
plan to conduct physical inspections of imports in a meeting with
several importers and businessmen last week following Ginsi's
report of massive smuggling and under-invoicing on the part of
the customs office, which causes huge losses to the state.
"(But) Physical inspection of imports on arrival will not be
effective in curbing smuggling and under-invoicing. It will
instead hamper the smooth flow of imports because the customs
service does not have a reliable database to verify prices and it
will create new opportunities for customs officials to accept
bribes to facilitate things," Amiruddin said.
According to him, smooth import flows are also vital for
Indonesian exports because manufacturing industries depend
largely on imported materials and components.
"The customs service is simply too incompetent and highly
corrupted to conduct proper customs inspection of imports, as can
be seen from the fact that not a single case of import violations
or smuggling has so far been brought to court," he said.
According to Amiruddin, even the post-audit system currently
used has caused uncertainty because customs officials often come
up with customs duty bills much larger that what had been paid by
importers before the audit was conducted.
Under the current system, most imports are not subjected to
physical inspection on arrival, but importers must settle the
payment of customs duties and other taxes based on prices
stipulated in import documents.
"The problem though is that the audit is often only conducted
two years later when the goods have been sold or used in
production, and customs officials often set much higher customs
duties and other taxes than what has been paid on the delivery of
imports. This is the area that is very often vulnerable to
collusive negotiations," Amiruddin said.
He also revealed that goods are often smuggled through
door-to-door container services whereby bogus importers simply
pay customs officials to have their imports delivered directly to
their warehouses without being subjected to proper document
verification.