State survey company PT Sucofindo is considering to team up with a global company to carry out pre-shipment inspections, to help the government's drive to control the inflow of imported goods in the coming year.

President director Arief Safari said an operational joint team, made up from his firm and another state survey firm PT Surveyor Indonesia, would soon decide which foreign surveyor firm should be chosen to work on this scheme.

"We are considering to work with SGS (Switzerland-based Societe Generale de Surveillance) because it already operates in 120 different countries," he said Tuesday.

"But there's always a chance for us to cooperate with other foreign surveyor firms, too."

He said competitive fees would be offered to attract any foreign firms to join in future cooperation.

He said Sucofindo once worked with a Japanese firm in 2004 when tasked to verify imports of used iron.

A pre-shipment inspection is mandatory under a 2008 Trade Ministry regulation on verification of particular products in five categories of imports, namely textiles, food and beverages, toys, footwear and electronics.

Sucofindo's move is designed to help control a potential influx of imported goods as traders turn to emerging markets, including Indonesia, amid the current global economic downturn.

Arief said a pre-shipment inspection was allowable under a World Trade Organization regulation and had been applied by many other countries.

He said the imports in the five categories had to be inspected at present at the ports of exporting countries before being shipped to Indonesia.

The regulation also stipulates that only five sea ports and a number of international airports can serve as the point of entry for the goods in these five catgories.

The sea ports include the Tanjung Priok sea port in Jakarta, the Tanjung Emas sea port in Central Java, the Tanjung Perak sea port in East Java and the Belawan sea port in North Sumatra, while the airports include the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport.

Arief said such an inspection was necessary to control the quality and the amount of the goods in these categories in particular.

"Pre-shipment inspection is also needed to guarantee the flow of goods as an inspection in the unloading ports would cause congestion," he explained.

He said his company had drawn up a system for the pre-shipment inspection.

"We're waiting for a decree from the Trade Minister to start working on this," he said.

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