T

he Finance Ministry has revised a regulation on import duties as it aims to reduce the long dwelling times at ports.

The revision came following the government'€™s earlier vow to reduce average dwelling times to 4.7 days from 5.5 days. Of the average 5.5 days, 3.6 days are apparently spent on pre-customs clearance that involves verifications by various institutions.

According to Finance Minister Regulation No. 167/PMK.04/2015, importers can request a postponement for paying import duties by submitting a letter to the Directorate General of Customs and Excise or its representative offices and placing a guarantee.

'€œIf the request is approved, importers can take their products out of the ports while waiting for the import duty payment process to officially complete,'€ the director general of customs and excise, Heru Pambudi, said on Friday.

The move is expected to slash dwelling times currently being experienced at ports and reduce the stockpile of cargo because the government'€™s approval for the postponement will be issued within a much shorter period than was stipulated under the previous regulation.

Finance Regulation No. 160/PMK.04/2007 stipulated that importers could ask for a similar postponement, but the approval would be conveyed within 60 days at the latest after the request was submitted.

The revised rule, on the other hand, says that the government will make a decision on the postponement request within three days and convey it to the importers within 14 days at the latest.

'€œImporters will be able to obtain clarity for their products much faster than before. The revision will help us complete the whole import duty process much quicker as well, within 60 days at most, eventually resulting in a faster stream of revenues from import duties,'€ Heru said.

In 2015, the government is looking at collecting Rp 37.2 trillion (US$2.6 billion) in import duties. Data from the directorate general show that by the end of August, the figure had reached Rp 20.22 trillion, more than half of the full-year target.

The government also offers more leniency to importers in terms of their guarantees. In the past, the guarantees had to be provided in the form of cash, bank guarantees, custom bonds or other things.

At present, the guarantee only needs to take the form of a written statement for government-related institutions that details the amount of import duties that they are obliged to pay and the use of the imported goods.

For private firms, the guarantee takes the form of a bank guarantee that is worth the same amount as the import duty.

Meanwhile, Indonesian Importers Association (Ginsi) secretary-general Achmad Ridwan Tento said that his organization welcomed the revision, but argued that other ministerial regulations must be streamlined as well to complement the changes.

According to Ridwan, import duty-related procedures are not the only factors that trigger the long dwelling times.

'€œIt also has to do to the fact that many importers bring in goods without having specific plans for their use. So they just store the goods at the ports,'€ he said.

The association, he added, was now waiting to see the results of a recent Trade Ministry regulation that required importers to obtain the necessary licenses before the goods arrive.