Jakarta (ANTARA) - Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa said financial penalties will be imposed in addition to prison sentences for illegal importers of secondhand clothes and bags, as part of efforts to curb smuggling and protect local industries.
Speaking at a press conference at the Finance Ministry on Wednesday, Sadewa said the government has long suffered financial losses from merely destroying confiscated goods and jailing offenders without recovering any compensation.
“So far, all we’ve done is destroy the goods and imprison the importers. The Finance Ministry gets nothing, even though we spend money to destroy the products and feed those in prison,” he said.
Sadewa said he had received a list of secondhand clothing importers and vowed to take firm action to halt their operations.
He emphasized that the government’s policy is aimed at protecting legal micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and revitalizing domestic textile production.
“The goal is to revive Indonesia’s textile industry and create jobs for local producers,” he said, assuring that market vendors will continue to have access to affordable domestically made goods once illegal imports are eliminated.
Earlier in the day, Sadewa made an unannounced inspection of the Directorate General of Customs and Excise in Jakarta.
Following the visit, he said the ministry would build an artificial intelligence (AI)-based monitoring system to improve oversight and detect illegal trading practices more effectively.
The new system will integrate data from agencies under the Finance Ministry, including the Directorate General of Customs and Excise and the Indonesian National Single Window (LNSW) Agency, he said.
As of September 30, customs and excise revenue stood at Rp221.3 trillion ($13.2 billion), or 73.4 percent of the annual target, supported by stronger export duties and excise revenue from palm oil and copper concentrate.
Import duties totaled Rp36.6 trillion, down 4.6 percent from last year due to lower tariffs on food commodities and free trade agreements, according to ministry data.
