Potential 1,000 Percent Fine, Customs Investigates Alleged Tiffany Import Violations

JAKARTA - The Directorate General of Customs and Excise of the Jakarta Regional Office (Kanwil) has sealed a number of Tiffany & Co. luxury jewelry outlets in Jakarta.

Head of the Customs Enforcement Section of the Jakarta Regional Office, Siswo Kristyanto, explained that this operation targeted high-value goods that were allegedly not fully reported in the import notification document (PIB).

He said that this step was a follow-up to the instructions of the Minister of Finance, Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa, to optimize state revenue potential, both from the customs and tax sectors.

"So for the companies that we are currently taking administrative action against, we are trying to obtain data on the goods in their stores or outlets for us to match with the goods that they have reported when applying for the goods to enter Indonesia," he explained in his statement, quoted Friday, February 13.

He added that this process is carried out to ensure that all products sold have been officially registered in customs documents.

According to him, his party will take the appropriate actions, to enforce and increase compliance with the customs of the company in question.

He added that currently, the Customs is still conducting research by comparing the company's declared documents with the data owned by the authorities and confirmed that the enforcement carried out is still within the administrative realm.

"Until now we are still conducting research, because it needs to be compared between the documents they declare to us and the documents we have. So for the type we are still doing research again. We reiterate that what we are doing is supervision is still in the administrative framework," he said.

According to him, if violations are found, companies can be subject to administrative sanctions in the form of fines of up to 1,000 percent of the customs or tax value of the import, in accordance with the provisions of Law Number 17 of 2006 concerning Customs.

"If the case is more related to administrative sanctions in the field of customs. We are trying to eliminate the criminal field, because according to the direction of the leadership, what we are doing now is how to increase state revenue. Customs Law Number 17 of 2006," he said.

He added that as part of the process, the Customs sealed the goods in the safe and temporarily closed the store in question.

Siswo emphasized that the management or business owners were asked to provide detailed explanations to the Customs Office regarding the status of imports and payment of state levies on sealed goods.

"For the time being, we seal the goods in their safe and we seal the store. We ask the concerned parties, the administration or the owner, to provide an explanation to the Customs Office for the goods that are currently sealed in detail, including those who have paid state taxes at the time of import or not," he added.

In addition to the outlets at Plaza Senayan, enforcement was also carried out at two other locations, namely Plaza Indonesia and Pacific Place, in total, there were three outlets that had been sealed.

Siswo stated that it was not impossible that a similar step would be expanded to other luxury jewelry outlets in Jakarta.

"For now, 3 stores, related to the development of the future, it is possible that we will also develop again. Not just 1 outlet," he said.

For information, Tiffany & Co. is an American jewelry brand founded in 1837 by Charles Lewis Tiffany and John B. Young.

The company is widely known for its collection of diamond jewelry, sterling silver, and other luxury products.

Since 2021, Tiffany & Co. has been part of the French luxury group, LVMH.