TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta:Jakarta Customs Office
Directorate-General have discovered that 29 electronic
goods’ containers were smuggled into Indonesia
illegally in a situation where different documentation
was used to hide this crime. The state is estimated
to have suffered Rp 3-billion in losses because of
these smuggling operations.
Permana Agung, the head of Jakarta Customs Office
announced this in a press conference at the Jakarta
International Terminal Container in Tanjung Priok,
North Jakarta today (1/11). Permana said that 12
documents were used stating that the containers
contained cheaper items than the electronic goods
actually contained.
“The documents attached to the containers stated that
the cheap goods such as joss paper, orange peel,
calcium carbonate, soda ash, talc powder, organic
solvent and other cheap goods were inside,” Permana
said.
In fact, the containers contained General Electric air
conditioners, Bomba tapes, VCD players of Titanic,
Komsa and Komsan brands, TV of Toshiba and Panasonic
brands, lamps and lubricating oil.
Permana said the goods had been imported from PT MUC
in Jakarta via ports in Taichung, Shanghai, Hongkong,
Rotterdam, Hamburg, Bangkok and Singapore. The goods
arrived at Tanjung Priok port using different ships
between October 1-24, 2001.
Permana said the smuggling was successfully disclosed
as the Customs Office got suspicious with the
containers. “Those smuggling these goods will be
charged with article 82 subsection 5 of Law number 10
of 1995 on Customs. They will also be imposed with
the fine, 5 times than the value of the containers,”
he said.
According to Permana, the smuggling did not involve
Customs officers. However, the Customs Office is
still carrying out investigations as to why these
containers could escape from the surveillance points
before the smuggling was disclosed.
“We apply the risk management strategies to overcome
problems like this. We select the goods that we
assume are smuggled goods,” Permana said.
Meanwhile, the chairman of Association of Indonesian
Electronic Industries Rachmat Gobel said today (1/11)
that the smuggled electronic goods’ had the potential
of disturbing Indonesian industries. Gobel said that
such smuggling would disable the legal importers of
electronic goods who had to pay a 40-percent tax.
“This could cause an unhealthy trade climate as the
electronic goods are imported, not the assembly ones,”
Gobel said. Consequently, this situation will
decrease vacancies and state income from tax will
decline.
