Retired officials behind phantom import firms
Retired officials behind phantom import firms
Rendi A. Witular, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
A senior customs official said retired customs officials were
connected to the more than 1,500 "phantom" import companies whose
licenses were recently suspended by the government.
The head of the importer registration project at the
Directorate General of Customs and Excise, Nirwala Dwi Heryanto,
said the retired officials either owned or had helped corrupt
businessmen establish the firms.
"Such suspicions are well founded given that they (retired
officials) are familiar with customs procedures," he told The
Jakarta Post over the weekend.
He was commenting on the recent move by the Ministry of
Industry and Trade to suspend the licenses of 1,566 importers,
representing 21 percent of the country's total 7,126 importers,
following their failure to submit company data, including their
addresses.
The move is part of the ministry's campaign to increase the
supervision of the country's import activities in a bid to curb
smuggling.
Nirwala said senior customs officials often continued to
exert influence over junior officials even after retirement.
Corrupt retired officials, he said, use this influence to skirt
customs procedures in collusion with active officials.
"The practice is possible thanks to Indonesia's tradition in
which juniors respect their seniors very much. This is a common
phenomenon in all government offices," he said.
Given their connections with active officials and knowledge of
the loopholes in import procedures, retired customs officials
often provide consulting services to import firms, advising them
on how to clear imported goods without going through the normal
procedures.
The Directorate General of Customs and Excise said corrupt
importers had caused the state roughly Rp 8 trillion (US$909
million) in lost revenue each year from customs duties and import
taxes alone.
Law enforcers have found it difficult to shut down these
phantom import firms because they use fake addresses and
identities when applying for import licenses.
As part of the effort to curb illegal activities, the
directorate has ordered all licensed importers to register with
the agency. The agency wants to identify dubious importers likely
to be involved in smuggling.
Under a joint ministerial decree signed by Minister of
Industry and Trade Rini Soewandi and Minister of Finance Boediono
last December, all importers must register and submit their
company data, including their financial reports, to the customs
office by April 1. Customs officials will then conduct field
checks to verify the data submitted by the importers.
Starting next month, only those importers who have registered
with the customs office will be allowed to continue their
activities.
Nirwala said that as of Saturday, about 4,000 of the total
7,126 importers had passed the field checks. The others either
had failed the checks or had delayed their registration due to
"technical problems".