Govt fixes regulation on cargo inspection

The government has revised a regulation on a new air freight security management system by allowing airlines and manufacturers to participate in the business.

Transportation Ministry spokesman Bambang Ervan said that the revision was a result of long discussions with officials from the transportation, trade and finance ministries, the Indonesian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Kadin), business associations, and regulated agents.

“The revision that we have today has accommodated recommendations and suggestions from all related parties that are responsible to improve air the freight security system in the country,” Bambang said.

He said that the ministry is going to promote the new air transportation director general’s regulation no. 152 (SKEP 152) for the stakeholders in July and it will be fully implemented in every airport across the archipelago by April 2013.

The new regulation will be firstly implemented in Indonesia’s main gateway, Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Cengkareng, Banten, just west of Jakarta, sometime this year, he said.

“Any airline and manufacturer with sufficient human resources and X-ray machines can send their proposal to the ministry to receive an official certificate to inspect cargoes,” he said.

Last year, the government introduced a new system for cargo inspections, which included scanning single packages with X-ray machines conducted by regulated agents for cargo inspections rather than warehouse operators.

Older regulation had sparked protests from business associations for several reasons, namely because the government appointed only certain parties as regulated agents. The business said additional costs for the security checks would also increase logistical costs for local products, which in turn would also reduce competitiveness overseas.

In addition to that, the executives became more disappointed because the ministry appointed PT Fajar Anugerah Semesta as the only regulated agent for the bonded zone and the company charged an annual fee of Rp 25 million (US$2,650) on top of the weight based fee.

Contacted separately, Kadin deputy chairman for air transport, who also chairs the Indonesian Express Delivery Companies’ Association (Asperindo) Muhammad Kadrial, welcomed the revision of the regulation.

“We appreciate the correction that the ministry has made on the regulated agent issue. The revision shows that now we have a better regulation to improve our air freight security,” Kadrial said.

He said, however, that he plans to meet with the ministry’s air transportation directorate general immediately to further discuss the tariff that has not been elaborated in the revised regulation.