The Ministry Of Industry Admits That The Data Presented By Customs And Excise About The Contents Of Import Containers Is Not Complete

Containers (photo: intermediate)

The Ministry of Industry (Kemenperin) stated that it had received a reply letter from the Directorate General of Customs and Excise (DJBC) of the Ministry of Finance (Kemenkeu) regarding the contents of 26,415 containers issued from Tanjung Priok and Tanjung Perak ports last May. However, the data submitted is still incomplete.

This was stated by the Spokesperson for the Ministry of Industry (Kemenperin) Febri Hendri Antoni Arif. "The letter from the Director General of Customs and Excise (Askolani) was received on August 2, 2024 or two weeks since the letter was signed on July 17, 2024," said Febri in a written statement, Monday, August 5.

Unfortunately, said Febri, the data submitted in the letter could not be used by the Ministry of Industry to mitigate the impact of the release of tens of thousands of containers on the industry because it was too macro, not detailed and only partially.

"The impression is that there is contents of the tens of thousands of containers that are hidden," he said.

In the reply letter, Febri said Askolani had submitted content data from 26,415 containers grouped based on the Board Economic Category (BEC). In detail, as many as 21,166 containers in the form of raw and auxiliary materials (80.13 percent), 3,356 containers (12.7 percent) of consumer goods (12.7 percent) and 1,893 containers of capital goods (7.17 percent).

In detail, Askolani also submitted data on the top 10 types of goods/containers from each of these groups in the attached documents.

Responding to Askolani's letter, the Ministry of Industry gave several responses. First, said Febri, if most of the containers that accumulate contain raw materials / auxiliary materials (80.13 percent), what is the urgency of issuing the Minister of Trade Regulation (Permendag) Number 8 of 2024 and relaxing imports for downstream goods / consumer goods.

Meanwhile, containers containing downstream goods / consumer goods are much smaller (12.7 percent).

Second, Febri said that the data submitted in Askolani's Director General of Customs and Excise only explained that the contents of 12,994 containers or 49.19 percent of the total data were 26,415 containers. The rest, contents of 13,421 containers are not explained properly.

"This is strange and strange, considering that the Director General of Customs and Excise claimed to have passed all the containers from the port," said Febri.

Third, the application for importation from the Ministry of Industry is based on an 8 digit HS Code and is contained in the import document held by the Directorate General of Customs and Excise. Meanwhile, the information submitted in the reply letter is a 2 digit HS Code.

Therefore, it cannot be known if the real goods are in the form of raw materials or finished goods.

"The Ministry of Industry asked the Directorate General of Customs and Excise to provide detailed data on 8 digit HS Code imported goods from 26,415 containers that accumulated in the ports," he said.

Fourth, data on importing goods with an 8 digit HS Code is needed by the Ministry of Industry. Because, if there are products that can be produced domestically, it will later affect the domestic industry.

"This is the importance of controlling imports, especially for products that include raw materials HS," he explained.

Fifth, the Ministry of Industry needs to obtain more valid data in the 8 digit HS Code and according to the amount that has so far been issued by the Director General of Customs and Excise since the enactment of Permendag 8/2024, so that appropriate policies can be anticipated to stem imported products in order to increase the competitiveness of domestic industrial products.

Then sixth, the destruction of some of the goods from 26,415 containers is also odd. The reason is, it indicates that the contents of containers are prohibited from entering Indonesia, but are included in the grouping of 26,415 containers.

The Director General of Customs and Excise needs to convey information about when and where the destroyed goods entered and were dismantled at the port as well as the number of containers and the HS Code. Then there is news of the destruction event.

Furthermore, Febri also highlighted the delay in the letter of the Director General of Customs and Excise since it was signed. This needs attention from the Minister of Finance (Sri Mulyani), especially regarding the administrative system at the Directorate General of Customs and Excise.

"The Ministry of Industry needs valid and reliable data and is available quickly to anticipate the decline in the current performance of the domestic manufacturing industry," he added.