RI export-import procedures queried

JAKARTA (JP): The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) recommends that the Indonesian government simplify its export and import procedures.

A recent study by UNCTAD's Management Consultant for Indonesia, R.N. Shipvuri, concluded that 36 government and private agencies are presently involved in the country's import and export activities, requiring importers and exporters to process 121 documents.

Among the government authorities and agencies which contribute to the disarray of procedures are the customs and excise office, the port administration, the stevedoring and freight-forwarding firms, insurance companies, guarantors and banking agencies.

Antara news agency quoted Shipvuri as saying that the long line of procedures made the movement of goods from one point of to another a "very arduous" job.

To make matters worse, he added, most of the paperwork is done by different agencies.

He pointed out that the situation limited the government's ability to boost Indonesia's trade and economy. He suggested that the government work harder to reduce red tape so that it does not pose an obstacle to economic growth.

Shipvuri, who is also head of the technical advisory team of the National Trade Facilitation Program established by the Ministry of Trade and Industry, offered a three-step solution to the problem.

First, the government must identify the bottlenecks occurring in import-export procedures and design solutions. Second, they must systematically rationalize trade and information procedures as well as documentation inflow. Third, reduction of the costs of trade procedures can be accomplished by increasing the use of information technology and electronic databases. (pwn)