Indonesian Govt Spills Reasoning Behind Import Restriction at Soekarno-Hatta Airport

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Indonesian government through the Ministry of Trade has begun implementing rules regarding restrictions on imported goods brought by passengers from abroad.

Minister of Trade Regulation Number 36 of 2023 concerning Import Policies and Regulations has been issued since December 11, 2023, and came into effect on Sunday, March 10, 2024. The Soekarno-Hatta Customs and Excise Office has begun implementing the policy.

"We urge the general public to pay close attention to the regulation since these commodities are common souvenirs,” said the head of Soekarrno-Hatta Customs and Excise Office Gatot Sugeng Wibowo in Tangerang, Sunday, March 10, 2024, as quoted from Antara.  

The regulation concerns imported goods carried by passengers and purchased abroad without the ministry’s permit.

Among the imported goods restricted by the government are a maximum of two pairs of footwear per passenger, two bags per passenger, and five pieces of other finished textile items per passenger. 

In addition, electronic goods are also limited to five devices per passenger with a total value of US$1,500. Cell phones, headsets, and tablet computers are limited to two per passenger. The limit applies for a period of 1 year, not per trip. So, what are the reasons for these restrictions?

Minister of Trade Zulkifli Hasan spilled that the reason for the restriction on imported goods brought from abroad is protection for domestic trade and domestic products.

Zulkifli revealed that the government so far considered the border limitation on imported goods to be too lax. Thus, the regulation shifted the post-border supervision back to border supervision for easier control of imported goods. 

The minister also noted that exported products from Indonesia must meet all requirements before entering other countries. Hence, Indonesia also applies similar regulations for imported goods.

“In the past, the imported goods including from online transactions enter Indonesia directly. Meanwhile, our products must meet all the requirements,” Zulhas said in Jakarta on Wednesday, March 13, 2024.

The import regulation mainly contains provisions on shifting import supervision from post-border to border control and relaxation of import Additionally, Gatot Sugeng Wibowo explained that the new policy applies to all passengers from abroad, including migrant workers returning from overseas

The airport customs will apply professional import fees on passengers who do not heed the limitations. "As long as they are willing to pay import duties and taxes within the capacity of import goods, then go ahead," said Gatot, Sunday, March 10, 2024. 

RADEN PUTRI | JONIANSYAH

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