To keep illegally imported products from entering the market, the Customs authorities need to continue to take action against them and strengthen supervision and action at ports.
"Supervision and action against smuggling and illegal products are not only carried out at big ports of entry but also through backdoor smuggling," he said here on Friday.
Illegally imported products and cheap imports that are legally entering the Indonesian market have hit the domestic industry hard, he said, noting that several regulations provide the widest possible leeway for imported goods to enter freely into the Indonesian market.
"The industry is suffering because cheap legal imports are entering the domestic market," the minister added.
The Directorate General of Customs and Excise (DJBC) of the Ministry of Finance managed to prevent potential state losses worth Rp3.9 trillion (USD1 = Rp15,910) by detecting 31,275 smuggling cases in the period from January to November 2024.
"More than 5 thousand actions were taken per month. The total value of the goods reached Rp6.1 trillion, with the potential state loss at around Rp3.9 trillion," Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati announced on Thursday.
She informed that 12,495 actions were taken against illegal imports of goods worth Rp4.6 trillion. The actions generally involved textile and textile products.
She further said that the products entered the domestic market due to excessive production in other countries, and the destination countries set high tariffs. This is what made importers illegally import these products into Indonesia.
The Customs and Excise authorities have said that they will continue to improve synergy and coordination between agencies to increase the successful handling of such cases.
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Translator: Ahmad Muzdaffar Fauzan, Yashinta Difa
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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