Indonesia recently ratified the ASEAN Customs Agreement through Presidential Regulation No. 137 of 2014. A copy of the regulation is available here.
The agreement is intended to simplify and harmonize the export and import of goods between ASEAN Countries. It regulates:
- Customs procedures and formalities, such as inspection of imported goods, import/export notifications, duties and taxes, and security;
- utilization of information technology systems to simplify customs procedures;
- cooperation between signatories; and
- dispute resolution procedures.
Several improvements have been introduced with the aim of establishing more comprehensive and uniform customs authorities in ASEAN countries. Improvement of customs services is in line with the spirit and principles underlying the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), which will be established 1 January 2016.
(Authored by Bagus Lestanto, Associate)