The Ministry Of Industry Complains That The Slow Customs And Excise Reply To Letters About The Contents Of 26,415 Containers Had Been Detained

Container (intermediate)

The Ministry of Industry (Kemenperin) complained about the slow pace of Customs and Excise in handling thousands of container contents held in a number of Indonesian ports, such as Tanjung Priok and Tanjung Perak ports.

Spokesperson for the Ministry of Industry Febri Hendri Antoni Arif said that his party had received directions from the Minister of Industry (Menperin) Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita and would send another letter to the Minister of Finance (Menkeu) Sri Mulyani to ask for more detailed data on the contents of 26,415 containers that had accumulated at the port.

Even so, Febri requested that Customs and Excise not take too long to reply to letters sent from his ministry.

"We ask that the reply to the letter be submitted quickly. Not shy about cats," Febri said at a press conference at his office, Wednesday, August 7.

Febri explained that when the Minister of Industry first sent a letter to the Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani to ask for details on the contents of the container to be held on June 27, 2024, the reply letter signed by Customs and Excise only came out on July 17, 2024.

The Minister of Industry only received it on August 2, 2024 yesterday.

"So, there is a long pause in customs documents to get to the Minister (Agus Gumiwang) after being signed by Customs and Excise. We also asked, how come it took so long?" said Febri.

"What's wrong with the administrative system in Customs and Excise? That's how it was yesterday that the letter was not submitted to the Minister's Decree, but handed over to our expert staff. This is interesting too. Why Customs?" he added.

According to Febri, it is necessary to move quickly in this matter. Given, the manufacturing index or the Indonesian Manufacturing Purchasing Manager Index (PMI) contracted to 49.3 in July 2024, down 1.4 points from the previous month.

He said that only Indonesia's manufacturing performance was currently contracting in the ASEAN region.

"So the slower we receive the reply letter, the more suffering the domestic industry," he said.

The problem of the container being held back began in mid-May 2024. At that time, it was informed that 26,415 containers were detained at Tanjung Priok Port, North Jakarta, Tanjung Perak Port, Surabaya and Belawan Port in Medan, North Sumatra.

Then, the Ministry of Industry asked for information about the contents of the 26,415 containers in detail so that they could mitigate the impact of the removal of all detained containers on the industries in the country.

Then, the Ministry of Industry also sent a letter to the Directorate General of Customs and Excise at the Ministry of Finance. However, the Ministry of Industry claims that the data submitted in the letter is too macro, not detailed and only partially.