Kualanamu Customs And Excise Makes Amateur Videos About The Rules Of Goods Bringing It Overseas, The Result Is Just A Commotion

The public needs a structured explanation regarding the rules for reporting luggage abroad. (Doc. Customs and Excise)

JAKARTA The video uploaded by Kualanamu Customs on the Instagram account has drawn a negative reaction from the public. Apart from its content being considered less relevant, the community is also more hot because each policy is considered only to make it difficult for ordinary people.

Recently, a video of the presentation was circulated from the Instagram account of the Kualanamu Airport Customs Supervision and Service Office. The video contains information that passengers who want to go abroad are asked to report luggage to Customs and Excise officers.

The information in the video gives rise to mixed reactions. But the majority of people think that the regulation is burdensome, time wasting, and disturbing comfort. One of those who questioned the video was Ismail Fahmi, who was the founder of Drone Emprit and Media Kernels Indonesia.

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"Is this explanation true, it has to be like this if you want to go to LN guys? So when you go to LN, when you go to the terminal, you don't go to DEPARTURE, but go to ARRIVAL first. There, you go to Customs and Excise first to report anything, "he wrote on the account X @ismailfahmi.

"After that, the APPROVAL document will be provided to bring the goods to LN. And it will be escorted until the reported goods are actually brought to LN through the DEPARTURE terminal," he added.

In the midst of public commotion, the Ministry of Finance (Kemenkeu) finally clarified the viral news about the flow of passengers' luggage abroad as stated in the content created by the Kualanamu Customs Office.

Special Staff to the Minister of Finance for Strategic Communication Yustinus Prastowo said the content should be appreciated, because it actually answers public curiosity. However, Yustinus assessed that the content was not in accordance with the intent or substance of regulations and practices in the field so far.

"We apologize for the inconvenience and the noise that arises," said Yustinus via his personal X (Twitter) account @prastow.

The matter of luggage brought abroad has been regulated in the Minister of Finance Regulation (PMK) Number 203/PMK.04/2017 of 2017 concerning Export and Import Provisions for Goods brought by Passengers and Transportation Facilities. But Yustinus emphasized that the provisions for reporting passengers' luggage abroad only focus on high value goods such as bicycles for sports, exhibition goods, or art activities such as filming or concerts.

"So, it's not a laptop or shoes as exemplified," he added.

Public policy observer Trubus Rahadiansyah said the video uploaded by Kualanamu Customs some time ago, apart from only making it difficult for the bureaucracy, was also an opening for individuals to corrupt behavior. Trubus emphasized that this gap in corruption occurred due to requests and offers from two sides, namely from the examining party and the owner of the luggage.

"If the regulations are like the ones in the video, this is very detrimental to consumers, meaning that the bureaucracy is complicated. In addition, it is also a gap in corrupt behavior, because lobbying can be done," Trubus told VOI.

"Lobbies in us are very difficult to eliminate, because there are requests and offers. Not only unscrupulous employees, but indeed the community also took part," he added.

Furthermore, Trubus also highlighted the attitude of the Ministry of Finance which tends to be defensive for the virality of the video. The apology from the special staff of the Ministry of Finance is considered to make matters easier. In fact, an agency should understand better before uploading a video let alone regarding the general public.

Yustinus' tweet also explains that the fact that not all Customs and Excise ranks understand the regulations they must run on their own.

"Before publishing the video, it should have gone through the process first, whether it was fitting or not, but this seems rushed and does not understand the real rules. In addition, there is also an element of the game, so if it goes viral, I'm sorry. This illustrates our official as making things easier," he said.

Regulations to report luggage abroad are still not understood by the public. The lack of official, complete and structured explanations related to a policy only makes the public even more noisy in making comments.