The Ministry Of Industry Denies That It Has Received A Customs Excise Explanation Letter Regarding The Contents Of 26,000 Containers

Spokesperson for the Ministry of Industry Febri Hendri Antoni Arif (Photo: Theresia Agatha/VOI)

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Industry (Kemenperin) denied the statement by the Director General of Customs and Excise (DJBC) of the Ministry of Finance Askolani which claimed to have revealed the contents of the 26.000 containers to his party.

The contents of the containers were released from the Tanjung Priok and Tanjung Perak ports to enter the domestic market in line with the enactment of the Minister of Trade Regulation (Permendag) Number 8 of 2024 concerning the relaxation of imports.

Spokesperson for the Ministry of Industry Febri Hendri Antoni Arif said that until now his party had not received any reports of items in the container. This is important for the Ministry of Industry which plays a role in protecting the domestic industry.

"The Ministry of Industry denies that it has received an explanation letter from the Director General of Customs and Excise. We have not received the letter yet," Febri told reporters, quoted Thursday, August 1.

His party was also very surprised by the statement by the Director General of Customs and Excise Askolani who said that the contents of the container already had and were in accordance with the Import Approval (PI) of the Ministry of Trade (Kemendag) and Technical Considerations (Pertek) from the Ministry of Industry.

"Regarding Askolani explaining that thousands of containers entering Indonesia are in accordance with the PI from the Ministry of Trade and Pertek of the Ministry of Industry, we deny it," he said.

He also questioned the reason why Coordinating Minister for the Economy Airlangga Hartarto and Minister of Finance (Menkeu) Sri Mulyani initiated the issuance of Permendag 8/2024.

According to Febri, Permendag Number 36 of 2023 is in accordance with industrial needs and should be re-implemented by implementing PI and Pertek. This is because the relaxation of imports has made the domestic industry confused with the onslaught of imported products.

"Thousands of containers that were removed yesterday from port 26,000 had no technical considerations, therefore it was based on the Minister of Trade 8. So, we are asking why the Director General of Customs and Excise said that," he concluded.

Previously, the Director General of Customs and Excise at the Ministry of Finance, Askolani, said that his party had checked and reported the contents of the findings of 26,000 containers that had been held at Tanjung Priok and Tanjung Perak Ports to the Ministry of Industry.

"Yes, we have reported it to the Ministry of Industry," Askolani told the media crew at the Customs and Excise Headquarters, Wednesday, July 31.

Even so, Askolani did not explain in more detail what was in the container. However, he explained that there were illegal imported goods in the container and destruction had been carried out.

"What's illegal is that we destroy, it's there. So, we will assist the container together according to the provisions," he said.

In addition, Askolani emphasized that the containers that will enter Indonesia are based on the Import Approval (PI) of the Ministry of Trade and Technical Considerations and the Ministry of Industry. If these two things are not found, containers are prohibited from entering Indonesia.