Indonesia awaits flood of Chinese imports

The Asean-China free trade agreement (FTA) has not increased imports from China, a week after it officially came into effect, reported the Jakarta Post.

Newly appointed customs and excise office chief Thomas Sugijanta said Thursday that imports volume at Tanjung Priok seaport remained “normal”.

“Everything looks unchanged. Maybe because it is only been a week since the Asean-China FTA was implemented,” he told reporters.

Thomas said that with imports predicted to surge in the near future, the Customs and Excise Office had prepared some measures to cushion the negative impacts of the change.

“We will conduct stricter checks. We will also train a number of supervisory officers to intensify monitoring,” he said.

Customs officers will monitor every detail of imported goods before commodities leave port. “They will aim to prevent ineligible goods from receiving zero tariffs,” Thomas said.

Intensifying controls is one of the government’s ways to prevent illegal imports from China after the introduction of the FTA, he said.

“There will be no more leniency for imported goods that lack the required documents," Thomes said.

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