Duties and Tax Exemption
For contact information regarding government custom authorities, please follow the link below:
4.1 Indonesia Government Contact List
Indonesia is a member state of the World Customs Organization (WCO), having ratified the Convention establishing a Customs Co-operation Council on 30-Apr-1957. This Convention entered into force on 4th November 1952.
The only international body of Customs law that contains a specific chapter binding states to facilitate the work of intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations in implementing humanitarian assistance is the revised Kyoto Convention on the Simplification and Harmonization of Customs Procedures (with its Annex J-5 on the Special Procedure for Relief Material). Indonesia has not signed/ratified this Convention. They also have neither signed nor ratified the Tampere Convention on the Provision of Telecommunication Resources for Disaster Mitigation and Relief Operations.
In the event of an emergency, all humanitarian aid organizations must liaise with BNPB (National Agency for Disaster Management) for all topics including customs and excise, BNPB then will decide if any specific measures end exemption should apply.
Indonesia’s export import activities have an online system called Indonesia NSW, http://www.insw.go.id. The system enables trader to submit regulatory documents through the internet. This has resulted in the procedure to get license such as customs declarations, applications for import/export permits, and others from related Government of Agency (GOA) to be simplified.
Emergency Response:
[Note: This section contains information which is related and applicable to 'crisis' times. These instruments can be applied when an emergency is officially declared by the Government. When this occurs, there is usually a streamlined process to import goods duty and tax free.]
In the following table, state which of the following agreements and conventions apply to the country and if there are any other existing ones
Agreements / Conventions Description |
Ratified by Country? (Yes / No) |
---|---|
WCO (World Customs Organization) member |
Yes 30 Apr 1957 |
Annex J-5 Revised Kyoto Convention |
Yes 03 Dec 2004 |
OCHA Model Agreement |
No |
Tampere Convention (on the Provision of Telecommunication Resources for Disaster Mitigation and Relief Operations) |
No |
Regional Agreements (on emergency/disaster response, but also customs unions, regional integration) |
Indonesia is a member of ASEAN |
Exemption Regular Regime (Non-Emergency Response):
[Note: This section should contain information on the usual duties & taxes exemption regime during non-emergency times, when there is no declared state of emergency and no streamlines process (e.g. regular importations/development/etc.).]
Any humanitarian organization is allowed to be operational in the country as long as they are registered and approved by the Government of the Republic of Indonesia. All organizations must follow the rules and regulations with no exceptions. All UN agencies and NGOs working in the country may obtain duty exemption on their humanitarian cargo, however the process will not necessarily be the same due to the individual agreements with the Government and whether the goods are arriving under normal country conditions or during emergency situation.
For humanitarian cargo, duty & tax exemptions are issued by the State Secretariat Office (Ministry of State Secretariat) on shipment-by-shipment basis after submitting a form called a “PP 19”. This PP19 form derives from Government Regulation No.19 which officially states that humanitarian aid can be imported into the country duty and tax free. Each organization must also have a local government counterpart who, in return, will facilitate the importation process of goods.
For commercial cargo, all goods are subject to duties and taxes and, if there is an exception to this rule, it must be obtained through Ministry of Finance.
Organizational Requirements to obtain Duty Free Status |
---|
United Nations Agencies |
A valid MOU is requested for the exemption procedure. |
Non Governmental Organizations |
NGOs must be registered and have a MOU signed with the government. Tax exemption issues should be documented in the MOU to facilitate the clearing procedures. |
Exemption Certificate Application Procedure:
Duties and Taxes Exemption Application Procedure |
---|
Generalities (include a list of necessary documentation) |
Before the commodities arrive to Indonesia, a formal
notification of arrival must be submitted to the State
Secretariat.
The PP19 validation process takes at least 7 working days. It
should normally be initiated before the vessel’s arrival. It is duly recommended to anticipate the cargo arrival and to get support from the supervision ministry as it could facilitate and shorten the official procedures. |
Process to be followed (step by step or flowchart) |
For information on import procedures and Duties and Tax exemptions, please see the following documents: Procedures for Exemption of Taxes and Duties for Importing Goods for International Agencies |
Exemption Certificate Document Requirements
Duties and Taxes Exemption Certificate Document Requirements (by commodity) |
||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Food |
NFI (Shelter, WASH, Education) |
Medicines |
Vehicle & Spare Parts |
Staff & Office Supplies |
Telecoms Equipment |
Invoice |
Yes, Original, 1 copy, Applies to UN and NGOs |
Yes, Original, 1 copy, Applies to UN and NGOs |
Yes, Original, 1 copy, Applies to UN and NGOs |
Yes, Original, 1 copy, Applies to UN and NGOs |
Yes, Original, 1 copy, Applies to UN and NGOs |
Yes, Original, 1 copy, Applies to UN and NGOs |
AWB/BL/Other Transport Documents |
Yes, Original, 1 copy, Applies to UN and NGOs |
Yes, Original, 1 copy, Applies to UN and NGOs |
Yes, Original, 1 copy, Applies to UN and NGOs |
Yes, Original, 1 copy, Applies to UN and NGOs |
Yes, Original, 1 copy, Applies to UN and NGOs |
Yes, Original, 1 copy, Applies to UN and NGOs |
Donation/Non-Commercial Certificates |
Yes, Original, 1 copy, Applies to UN and NGOs |
Yes, Original, 1 copy, Applies to UN and NGOs |
Yes, Original, 1 copy, Applies to UN and NGOs |
Yes, Original, 1 copy, Applies to UN and NGOs |
Yes, Original, 1 copy, Applies to UN and NGOs |
Yes, Original, 1 copy, Applies to UN and NGOs |
Packing Lists |
Yes, Original, 1 copy, Applies to UN and NGOs |
Yes, Original, 1 copy, Applies to UN and NGOs |
Yes, Original, 1 copy, Applies to UN and NGOs |
Yes, Original, 1 copy, Applies to UN and NGOs |
Yes, Original, 1 copy, Applies to UN and NGOs |
Yes, Original, 1 copy, Applies to UN and NGOs |
Other Documents |
Halal Certificate for prepared food |
n/a |
Import Permit issued by BPOM (Certificate of Analysis is mandatory to get the import permit) |
n/a | n/a |
Import permit |
Additional Notes |
Customs Clearance
General Information
Customs Information |
|
---|---|
Document Requirements |
Before the commodities arrive to Indonesia, a formal notification of arrival must be submitted to the State Secretariat. A complete set of original shipping documents must be submitted with the PP19 form, including;
|
Embargoes |
N/A |
Prohibited Items |
All goods categorized as B3, such as: narcotics, weapons, etc. Those items are allowed for special purposes; medicine, military defence, etc. |
General Restrictions |
A rice ban has been active since 2004. There are other foods with limited quotas such as sugar, salt and beef. |
Customs Clearance Document Requirements
Customs Clearance Document Requirements (by commodity) |
||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Food |
NFI (Shelter, WASH, Education) |
Medicines |
Vehicles & Spare Parts |
Staff & Office Supplies |
Telecoms Equipment |
D&T Exemption Certificate |
Yes (PP19) - Original |
Yes (PP19) - Original |
Yes (PP19) - Original |
Yes (PP19) - Original |
Yes (PP19) - Original |
Yes (PP19) - Original |
Invoice |
Yes - Original |
Yes - Original |
Yes - Original |
Yes - Original |
Yes - Original |
Yes - Original |
AWB/BL/Other Transport Documents |
Yes - Original |
Yes - Original |
Yes - Original |
Yes - Original |
Yes - Original |
Yes - Original |
Donation/Non-Commercial Certificates |
Yes - Original |
Yes - Original |
Yes - Original |
Yes - Original |
Yes - Original |
Yes - Original |
Packing Lists |
Yes - Original |
Yes - Original |
Yes - Original |
Yes - Original |
Yes - Original |
Yes - Original |
Phyto-sanitary Certificate |
Yes - Original |
n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
Other Documents |
|
n/a |
|
|
n/a |
|
Additional Notes |
||||||
As it is a question of communication and coordination between governmental bodies, some major delays can occur in obtaining Import Permits. |