Rini opposes new import policy
Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Minister of Trade and Industry Rini M. Soewandi said on Thursday she had asked finance minister Boediono to drop the newly issued decree requiring the country's importers to apply for a new import license at the Directorate General of Customs and Excise, marking another policy dispute among the members of President Megawati Soekarnoputri's Cabinet.
"We have sent a letter of complaint to finance minister Boediono over the new decree. We're asking the minister to review it," Rini told reporters.
Rini, a former senior executive at automotive conglomerate PT Astra International, clearly wanted to protect the interests of importers. She said the new import registration policy would "burden importers".
The Indonesian Importers Association (Ginsi) had also previously called for the cancellation of the decree, saying that giving extra administrative power to the customs office would only lengthen the bureaucratic process.
Ginsi said that the importers had already obtained the necessary license from the Ministry of Trade and Industry.
Rini also said that the authority to regulate export and import activities in the country was still under her office.
"I will meet Boediono this week to seek a solution. I hope the management of export and import will remain under the Ministry of Trade and Industry," she said.
But Boediono, a long-serving bureaucrat, wanted to secure greater revenue from the customs office as the government is facing difficulties in shouldering the huge cost of the 1997 financial crisis.
The import registration decree, which would take effect on Jan. 1, 2003, is aimed at curbing rampant smuggling which has brought losses to the state.
The Directorate General of Customs and Excise is under the Ministry of Finance.
This is not Rini's first policy disagreement with Boediono. She has also had policy disagreements with other ministers over trade and investment issues.
Experts have said that disputes between Cabinet ministers were making Megawati's Cabinet team less effective in tackling the country's economic problems.
Rini has repeatedly asked the Ministry of Finance to review its tax policy on value-added tax and luxury tax on several products to help boost the competitiveness of the countries industries both at home and in the overseas markets.
Rini has also voiced concerns over the rampant smuggling activities in the country, which have hit local manufacturers unable to compete with cheaper smuggled products.
She has proposed the implementation of the pre-shipment inspection (PSI) system to help curb rampant smuggling and under- invoicing practices. Implementing the PSI system would effectively circumvent the power of the customs office, frequently criticized as a corrupt institution.
Meanwhile, Director General of Customs and Excise Edy Abdurachman defended the new import registration policy, saying that it was part of efforts to curb smuggling activities.
He explained that the new policy would give authority to the customs office to gather sufficient information about the activities of importers.
He said that some of the data on importers provided by the Ministry of Industry and Trade was inaccurate, creating difficulties for his office in monitoring the operations of importers.
According to Edy, many importers submit fake addresses and identities when they apply for an import license, making it impossible to detect deviant importers.
He said that his office had discovered that more than 200 registered importers were phony, 600 others did not possess tax payer identification numbers and another 100 importers could not be audited.
Under the new import registration policy, the customs office would send their officials to the importers' offices to verify the information submitted by them.
Rini's recent policy disputes with economic ministers
With finance minister Boediono:
- Demanded the elimination of the 10 percent value-added tax on some agriculture commodities and luxury tax on electronic and automotive products.
- The revocation of the import registration policy.
- Called for the implementation of the pre-shipment inspection system.
With agriculture minister Bungaran Saragih:
- Fought against the ban on imported chicken legs from the U.S.
- Opposed calls for a higher import tariff on rice, sugar, corn, and soybeans.
With manpower and transmigration minister Jacob Nuwa Wea:
- Expressed objection to labor policies that were overly protective of workers at the expense of businesses.