Customs And Singapore Police Coast Guard Establish Customs Law Enforcement Cooperation

Cooperation (Photo: dock. Unsplash)

JAKARTA - Customs and Excise cooperates with the Singapore customs agency or the Singapore Police Coast Guard (SPCG), in exchanging information, the Rendezvous at Sea event, coordinated patrols, and capacity building.

The agreement was held at a meeting titled The 2nd Bilateral Meeting, which was the highest leadership level meeting between Customs and SPCG, namely between the Director General of Customs and Excise, Askolani and Commander of SPCG, SAC Cheang Kekong in Labuan Bajo, East Nusa Tenggara.

Head of the Sub-Directorate for Public Relations and Customs Counseling, Encep Dudi Ginanjar explained that during the meeting Customs and SPCG reviewed all cooperation activities that had been carried out by the two customs agencies, as stated in the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) which was signed on February 3, 2020.

"We also discuss the obstacles that occur in the cooperation that has been implemented and the steps ahead to increase the synergy of cooperation, such as increasing communication and coordination between operational and central teams, as well as implementing regular coordinated Rendezvous at Sea activities with the aim of supervising and enforcing the law at sea borders between the two countries," he said in his statement, Friday, July 26.

In addition, Enncep conveyed that during the meeting Customs and SPCG also exchanged information related to the best customs practices of the two countries, especially in the context of law enforcement of customs, supervision and eradication of customs violations, and facilitation.

At the end of the meeting, Customs and Excise and SPCG agreed to continue to increase cooperation which will be followed up by each technical team.

Encep conveyed that the cooperation with the bilateral scheme (customs to customs) between Customs and SPCG, which was realized, one of which through The 2nd Bilateral Meeting had provided benefits for Customs and Excise and Indonesia, especially in optimizing surveillance performance at state borders.

"Indonesia and Singapore are litral states in the Strait of Singapore which have the responsibility and interest to secure the Singapore Strait on both sides of their respective territorial waters, especially in the field of customs and excise," he explained.

Encep conveyed that by establishing good bilateral cooperation with SPCG, it has been able to prevent and limit illegal activities on the borders of Indonesia and Singapore, such as smuggling, transnational organized crimes (TOC) related to customs issues, and trading in other illegal goods.

Encep hopes that bilateral cooperation between Customs and SPCG will continue to be well established, so that the two customs agencies can optimally prevent and eradicate smuggling, cross-border coordinated crimes related to customs issues, and trade in other illegal goods.