Many Import Documents are Forgeries

Tempo Interactive, Wednesday, 31 March, 2010 | 12:41 WIB

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta: The Directorate General of Customs and Excise have found numerous violations using fictitious Certificates of Origin following the free trade agreement. As of early this year, at least 53 cases with false certificates of origin have been found in Tanjung Perak Harbor, Surabaya and Belawan Harbor, Medan.

Customs and Excise director-general, Thomas Sugijata, said that the findings consisted of 32 cases in Tanjung Perak and 21 cases in Belawan. They were exposed following checks carried early this year on goods unloaded in the two harbors.

The modus is allegedly to claim imported goods originating from countries which have not established a free trade agreement to come from those which have signed the pact. The aim is not having to pay tariffs.

According to Thomas, it is possible that similar cases occurred in other major harbors. “We have instructed that an investigation be carried as of early this year, especially on goods getting zero percent tariffs,” he said at a press conference in the headquarters of the Directorat General of Custom and Excise yesterday.

He was not able to provide information on the origin of the goods using the fake certificates, but he revealed that most of them used Chinese certificates of origin.

Indonesia has signed a free trade agreement with ASEAN countries as well as with China, Korea and Japan. “The tariff facilities will not be given to those who are not eligible. We will not allow this happen,” he said.

The Minister of Manpower and Transmigration, Muhaimin Iskandar, said that until now, there has been no significant impact following the launching of the free trade agreement.

“The Manpower Office chief has been instructed to keep on monitoring developments as a result of the China-ASEAN free trade agreement,” said Muhaimin in Bandung yesterday.

The Minister of Trade Mari Elka Pangestu said that Indonesia does not plant to sign a new free trade agreement in the near future. “More time is neededfor socialization,” said Mari in a separate occasion last week.

Mari explained that the socialization process carried out is about the positive side of free trade agreement. “We must also provide information about concerns (on the negative impacts), “she said.

Indonesia is still exploring the possibility of having a free trade agreement with Australia, New Zealand and Europe, which are grouped under the Europe Free Trade Association. Specifically on free trade between Indonesia, Australia and New Zealand, the government has just completed a feasibility study.

Even though there has been no agreement yet, according to Mari, the process leading to free trade with the three countries is being prepared. “At this stage, we have involved the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry,” said Mari.

AGOENG WIJAYA | ALWAN RIDHA RAMDANI | EKA UTAMI APRILIA

Customs office gets vessel to fight smugglers, poachers

Aditya Suharmoko, The Jakarta Post, Surabaya | Thu, 12/17/2009 1:58 PM

The customs and excise office on Thursday received a 38-meter speedboat from state shipbuilder PT PAL Indonesia to operate out of Tanjung Balai Karimun Port and patro for smugglers and poachers.

"We need vessels that can maneuver and quickly detect smuggling, which is growing more varied," Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said in her speech at the PAL office in Surabaya.

She added Indonesia's large maritime area needed better supervision from the customs and excise office to protect the economy.

PAL is scheduled to deliver another two vessels of the same type early next year to the customs and excise office.

Ports ready to operate 24/7 by January 2010: Officials

Aditya Suharmoko, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Wed, 12/16/2009 9:28 AM

A load off my mind: Loading and unloading activities at Tanjung Priok port in Jakarta. State port operator PT Pelabuhan Indonesia (Pelindo) II plans to develop Tanjung Priok port into an international hub port with docks 18 meters deep, starting next year. JP/R. Berto Wedhatama

The government plans to start running Indonesia’s ports around-the-clock by early January to speed up customs clearance and reduce logistics costs, officials said Tuesday.

“All ports will operate 24 hours, starting from Tanjung Priok Port [in Jakarta],” said Edy Putra Irawadi, deputy in charge of industry and trade to the coordinating economic minister, and chairman of the preparation team for the National Single Window (NSW).

The NSW is an integrated public service system to give importers and exporters simpler access to services.

Launched in December 2007, the NSW is designed to shorten the time needed to verify the identity of importers to a maximum of seven-and-a-half hours, or one working day.

Importers previously had to wait several days for customs clearance.

The NSW has now been implemented at Tanjung Priok Port, Tanjung Perak Port in East Java, Tanjung Emas Port in West Java, Belawan Port in North Sumatra and Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Banten.

Coordinating Economic Minister Hatta Radjasa said last week the fifth phase of the NSW would be launched in January 2010 to ensure the management of all imports and exports was integrated in one portal.

Anwar Suprijadi, the Finance Ministry’s director general of customs and excise, said his office was ready to work around-the-clock to support the ports’ new operating hours.

“The ministry regulation [on the operating hours] is up to the finance minister,” he said after a seminar with the Priority Businesses Association (APJP), which has 71 members prioritized to run export-import businesses.

Businesses have often complained that inefficient public services at ports push business costs up.

Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said in her speech Tuesday that importers and exporters should help the government protect the ports by reporting any misconduct.

Economist Aviliani said the NSW would create greater efficiency cut costs and improve investment competitiveness.

“These conditions are expected to attract investors to Indonesia,” she said.

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Finance minister calls for help to fight port mafia

The Jakarta Post | Sun, 12/21/2008 4:08 PM 

 

Finance Minister Sri Mulyani called on local business people on Sunday that they helped her ministry in fighting what she termed as "port mafia".

 

"Currently, I'm fixing our port, including the reform at the customs office. If all of you, gentlemen, find our officers asking for money, please don't pay," Sri Mulyani told members of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) on Sunday.

 

She said that Kadin should help the government in rooting out the port mafia to protect domestic industry.

 

"We need to make the port mafia as the enemy of Kadin and the government. Kadin has to help the government because if illegal goods enter the country, they will be in direct competition with you," she said.

 

Earlier, Kadin chairman MS Hidayat suggested that the government protect domestic market by imposing restrictions on imports, especially on products that could be produced domestically.

 

"Strengthening domestic market should be number one priority. All imports whose substitutions could be produced domestically must be restricted or even stopped, of course with regulations," Hidayat said.

Investors reluctant to use Tanjung Wangi seaport

The Jakarta Post, Banyuwangi | Wed, 12/17/2008 11:08 AM  |  East Java

Investors in the Banyuwangi province in East Java have been reluctant to use Tanjung Wangi as an alternative seaport for exports and imports despite a efforts by the government to promote the port.

 

Chairman of the East Java provincial branch of Indonesian Trade and Commerce (Kadin) Erlangga said the absence of reliable, fixed schedules for cargo ships and generally poor service at the seaport did not assure traders that their goods would be handled properly and efficiently.

 

"It is relatively more efficient and quicker for investors in Probolinggo, Jember, Lumajang, Situbondo and Banyuwangi to import goods and export products through Tanjungperak seaport, even though they have to pay additional costs. The traffic through that area was disturbed by the Lapindo mudflow," Erlangga said.

 

"Exporters want their goods to be shipped smoothly and handled correctly," he told The Jakarta Post in Banyuwangi on Tuesday.

 

Erlangga said he understood that cargo vessels had irregular schedules at the new seaport because investors and port authorities had offered no guarantees on the amount of goods to be shipped through the port.

 

The government and state-owned PT Pelabuhan III had to invest more in adequate equipment and facilities, he said, including a standard container terminal and a one-roof service to ensure the proper management of the port.

 

The seaport, constructed in June 2003, had not functioned optimally since the arrival of foreign and local vessels supplying goods to the region and Bali.

 

The administrator of the Tanjung Wangi port Bambang Setyo Utomo said he had identified a number of problems which were deterring investors and shipping companies from using the seaport.

 

"We have identified at least five main factors which have hindered Tanjung Wangi from developing into an alternative seaport. They are the seaport's limited capacity, the absence of a one-roof service for export and import documentation, taxes and excises, limited facilities at the container terminal and limited access to security and legal certainties," he said.

 

Bambang said the loading and unloading facilities at the container terminal included two each stackers capable of moving 40 tons of material, one forklift, four head trucks, two container slings and a heavy-equipment crane.

 

He said the seaport could function if all stakeholders, especially Pelabuhan III, shipping companies and exporters and investors, were ready to enhance cooperation and develop the seaport according to international standards.

Container terminal set for expansion

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Jakarta International Container Terminal (JICT) will expand its 72-hectare container yard by 12.4 hectares to increase its storage capacity by 57 percent to 55,000 ton equivalent units (TEUs).

The leading container terminal at Tanjung Priok port in North Jakarta will also procure some capacity handling equipment, build a road access to the unfinished Jakarta outer ring road and add its existing four entrance gates by 24 and its four exit gates by four with a total investment of US$150 million.

President director Bambang Bhakti said here Wednesday that JICT was targeting to handle a total of two million TEUs this year from 1.8 million TEUs handled last year.

"This means we are targeting to handle around 170,000 TEUs every month," he said, adding that the construction, which would start in March, was expected to finish in 2011.

He said after the completion of the expansion, the company would be able to serve three million TEUs per year.

Despite prediction about the global economic slowdown this year, which is driven by crisis of the U.S subprime mortgages, he said he was optimistic with the growth of Indonesia's exports and imports.

The U.S. is one of Indonesia's main export-import destinations which means a slowdown in its economy could dampen trade demand to Indonesia.

However, Bambang said he believed the country's economy would continue to grow as it had over the past five years.

"We are preparing this terminal to keep up with the growing demands in the future because we aim to become a world class container terminal," he said.

Manager for corporate affairs Agus Barlianto said that in order to meet its annual targets, the company had been stretching its working days so that it would have just 24 hours of shut down per year, comprising 16 hours for Idul Fitri and eight hours for Idul Adha -- both are Islamic holidays.

He said the customs office had agreed to keep up with the company by limiting its holidays.

Bambang said that the company, in cooperation with the customs office, had implemented a port system as part of the National Single Window (NSW), a recently launched online permit issuance program for exports and imports through Tanjung Priok port.

"So far, we have problems in implementing the port system as we are well-connected with the customs office. We are waiting for other government institutions that will join this system," he said.

The government launched the port system in the middle of December, involving five government agencies including the customs office to serve imports activities limited for 100 companies of the priority lane service.

JICT is a joint venture company owned 51 percent by Hutchinson Port Holdings and 49 percent by state-owned company PT Pelabuhan Indonesia (Pelindo) II and the maritime employees cooperative.

Up to 60 percent of import-export activities in the country are carried out through the Tanjung Priok port. (ind)

Three Filipino fishermen stranded in Gorontalo

Gorontalo (ANTARA News) - Three fishermen from the Philippines were found stranded at a beach in Sumalata subdistrict, North Gorontalo district, on Tuesday, police said here on Thursday.

Local police spokesman Adjunct commissioner Syafii Bagus said the three Filipino fishermen were identified as Lary Roxas (21), Toto Sayson (31), and Robinson Gunita (32) of Malapatan Saraganu in the Philippines.

Syafii Bagus said the boat of the three Filipino fishermen was stranded on a Sumalata beach after it had an engine failure and was swept away by strong current.

He said they had been taken to Gorontalo Immigration office for further investigation before being repatriated to their country through Manado in North Sulawesi.

NSW scheme to be rolled out in nine more ports

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The government hopes to expand the National Single Window (NSW) scheme, an on-line permit service for importers and exporters -- first introduced earlier this week at Jakarta's Tanjung Priok Port -- to nine more major ports next year.

"So far, it's been successful at Tanjung Priok Port.

"And we expect that ten big ports, including Tanjung Priok Port, will be served by the scheme by the end of 2008, at the latest," said Edy Putra Irawadi, a deputy to the coordinating minister for economics, on Thursday.

By next April, he said, the government would introduce the system at Belawan Port in North Sumatra, Tanjung Mas in Central Java, Tanjung Perak in East Java, and Makasar Port in South Sulawesi.

The extension of the scheme to another five ports -- Panjang in South Sumatra, Pontianak in West Kalimantan, Batam, Bali and Banjarmasin in South Kalimantan -- was expected to follow later in the year.

Last Monday, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati officially launched the first stage of NSW and its web portal -- http://www.insw.go.id.

During the first stage, five government agencies out of the 36 with responsibilities in the export/import field, have adopted the system, namely, the Customs Office, Food and Drug Control Agency, Directorate General of Foreign Trade, Animal Quarantine Center and the Agricultural Quarantine Center.

Currently, however, only 100 importers -- the beneficiaries of the so-called fast-track priority facility operated by the port authority -- are able to benefit from the scheme.

The priority facility, which grants importers preferential treatment for goods inspection at the port, is restricted to firms that have a proven track record and have never violated the regulations.

As for exporters, they will not be eligible to receive such treatment during the first phase of the NSW scheme, which is expected to end before April, when the second phase is scheduled to commence.

"We hope that by April next year, when we launch a common portal, the work of all the 36 agencies will be integrated in the NSW system, as well as other importers and exporters, so that we can simplify permit processing and curtail corruption," Edy said,

"There used to be a lot of redundancies involved as regards the necessary documents, unnecessary payments and convoluted bureaucracy."

He said that under the new service, an importer would only need 7.5 hours to get the necessary clearances to recover their shipments from the port authority, must faster than previously, when several days might be required.

The new service would also significantly reduce costs.

Edy said the NSW scheme had also simplified the job of the relevant government agencies, adding that the 23 biggest ports in Indonesia had to process 4.5 million export and import documents every year.

RI seafarers to get new biometric IDs

Ridwan Max Sijabat, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Indonesian seamen have hailed the government's ratification of an International Labor Organization convention allowing them shore leave, transit and transfer in transit privileges at destination seaports.

The chairman of Indonesian Seafarers Association (KPI), Hanafi Rustandi, said that by ratifying the 2003 Convention 185 on Seafarers Identity Documents (SIDs), the government would need to issue new biometric SIDs for more than 35,000 Indonesian seafarers working on vessels flying both Indonesian and foreign flags.

The convention requires all ILO member countries to recognize the seafarers' SIDs and let them enter their territories for short shore leaves without visas.

"Certain countries, particularly the United States and Britain, will have no reason to reject our seafarers from stopping over or entering their territories," Hanafi told The Jakarta Post when asked to comment Friday on the ratification.

He said Indonesia moved quickly to ratify the ILO convention, which took effect on Feb. 9, 2005, because the U.S. and Britain had rejected Indonesian seamen entry following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in New York and Washington D.C.

"So far, Indonesia is still on the list of 25 countries considered prone to terrorism, which has affected our seamen," he said.

The House of Representatives endorsed the bill on the convention's ratification in a plenary meeting Friday to protect Indonesian seafarers overseas.

Chairwoman of the House's Commission IX for labor and health issues said the ratification not only showed Indonesia's commitment to implementing international labor standards, but also encouraged job seekers to work with shipping companies to reduce unemployment and improve the country's income through remittances from seafarers.

Related to the convention, the ILO approved in March 2004 a biometric verification system that provides a more rigorous response to the need for increased security in the maritime industry.

The new identity document for seafarers allows for the use of a biometric template to turn two fingerprints of a seafarer into an internationally standardized 2-D bar code on the SID.

Transportation Minister Jusman Safii Djamal praised the quick deliberation and ratification of the ILO convention to protect Indonesian workers working in international waters.

"Allowing seafarers to have shore leave at seaports means they can go to hospitals for medical treatment, mail letters to their families back home and report on any piracy and smuggling activities to the authorities," he told the plenary session.

"Manpower and Transmigration Minister Erman Suparno and I will soon meet to coordinate the issuance of SIDs for all Indonesian seafarers."

VP gives port operators two years improve Tanjung Priok Port

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Vice President Jusuf Kalla gave the seaport operators in Indonesia two years improve and develop Jakarta`s Tanjung Priok port into one of the best in Southeast Asia.

Currently, Tanjung Priok port is comparable only to the port in Cambodia, by inferior to those in Singapore and Thailand, the vice president said when making an inspection of Tanjung Priok port on Wednesday.

In developing a sea port, there must be clear sectors, Kalla said, adding that the container sector, for instance, must be separated form the car export-import and cargo terminals

The vice president earlier dedicated the Jakarta Car Terminal whose activities include loading and unloading cars for exports, imports and for domestic needs.

The inaugural function was marked by the mooring of 172-meter MV Fuji Transworld Voyage 83 which unloaded 979 imported Toyota cars of different types from Thailand, Japan and Singapore.

After the unloading operation, 250 Toyota and Daihatsu cars were loaded onto the vessel for export to Thailand and Japan.

The vice president said, "if we think of car export-imports, there must be a special port to preserve the cars".

On the domestic need of cars, the vice president said it would be difficult to distribute cars to the regions in the country, if such a special port was not yet in place.

Pertaining to the smuggling of luxurious cars into the country, he said the cars managed to enter Indonesia in containers.

"Luxurious cars were always smuggled into the country in containers and it is to be dealt with by customs personnel, not the port authority," he said.

Surabaya's customs office head arrested on illegal logs

The Jakarta Post

JAKARTA (JP): Head of Surabaya Customs Office Dwi Cahyono Thursday was arrested for his alleged involvement in trafficking 10 containers of illegal logs from Kalimantan forests.

"I have led the arrests of two suspects. But we release one of them because there is not enough evidence of his involvement," East Java Police chief Ins. Gen. Herman S. Sumawiredja was quoted by Antara news agency as saying in the provincial capital of Surabaya.

He was accused of being involved in counterfeiting documents of 10 containers of logs Rp 10 billion (US$1.09 million) to be sent to abroad from Kalimantan.