WHAT TO DO FIRST BEFORE GOING TO INDONESIA?

WHAT YOU CAN AND CAN’T PACK?

When travelling, of course, anybody wants to experience a smooth and safe trip. To have a good trip, the main problem usually comes from the goods you bring along the journey. The first thing to remember is that every country is different. It means that the rules may vary and different, including Indonesia. The border for entering the country will be guarded by customs to make sure that you come without dangerous goods.

Indonesia customs has its own regulation to protect the citizen in order to prevent unwanted incident from illegal and disadvantageous goods. Thus, you are obligated to declare all the belongings since the goods will be taxed. Why? It is because the belongings you bring is considered as import goods. However, you will get customs exemption if the goods have value no more than USD 500 per person. If you bring the goods with value over the limitation, you will be charged for customs duty and import taxes (VAT and Income Tax). So, if you are planning to come to Indonesia, you need to check the belongings you can and cannot pack to cross the border.

KNOWING WHAT IS PERMITTED AND PROHIBITED!

Permitted goods are still limited and prohibited goods are totally banned. If you are accidentally or not breaking the rules, the fine will be served. Keep in mind that passenger personal goods are the goods used for personal purposes including the rest supplies. FYI, used or secondhand goods are prohibitted to enter Indonesia in accordance to . 

CAN YOU BRING FOOD OR BEVERAGE? ABSOLUTELY YES!

The food or beverage you can bring is still limited and restricted to some particular goods. You should not bring more than 1 (one) litre or 1.000 (one thousand) millilitre of alcoholic beverage (for example: liquor, vodka, beer, etc). For the food, it is not suggested to bring any processed food. If you are happened to bring any of those, you are advised to report it to the customs for further process.

MEDICINE IS IMPORTANT.

If you have any particular condition that needs medicine, it will be convenient to bring it with you. Personal medicine is allowed but limited. You can bring the medicine as long as it has license from Indonesia National Agency of Drug and Food Control. It is also suggested to bring recipe from your doctor. Keep in mind, medicine contain with forbidden drugs such as narcotics and marijuana will be executed.

BRING ENOUGH MONEY!

Please be consider in bringing cash money. You are obligated to report it in your declaration if you bring some amount of cash. However, it is not suggested to bring big amount of cash more than Rp 100.000.000. Over that amount, the cash will be charged 10% from the amount you carried.

TOBACCO, CIGAR, AND CIGARETTES ARE PERMITTED BUT LIMITED.

You only can bring no more than 200 (two hundreds) pieces of cigarettes, 25 (twenty five) pieces of cigars, or 100 (one hundred) grams of shredded tobacco or any other tobacco products.

THE LAST BUT NOT LEAST!

Do not forget the important documents that you will need such as passport, boarding ticket, and visa (if required). Make sure that your belonging is safe and will not cause any trouble during your visit or come back to Indonesia. Troubling goods will be processed immediately in order to protect Indonesia and its citizen.

HOW CAN YOUR BELONGING BE KNOWN? CUSTOMS DECLARATION IS THE ANSWER

Before arriving to Indonesia, you will be handed a form to declare all the goods you bring, including food, beverage, money, and other valuable goods, by the airlines crew. The form is a customs declaration. It is a requirement to fill the form since your belongings are considered as import goods. Afterwards, your customs declaration will be synchronized with the luggage you bring.

To make it easier about how customs declaration works, here are illustrations to explain the procedure you will pass:

1. Getting customs declaration form;
2. Arriving at the arrival gate;
3. Passing immigration gate;
4. Claiming your baggage;
5. Submitting the customs declaration;
6. Checking your belonging through examination or inspection (if required).

Customs declaration is useful for tracking the goods you bring while visiting Indonesia. It also helps to prevent any illegal conduct, such as smuggling, for protecting the Indonesia citizen from unwanted affair.

KNOWING IF YOUR BELONGINGS IS A COMMERCIAL GOODS

What is a commercial goods? It is a goods that is not intended for personal usage. The goods are brought to be sold and to be a sample, raw and auxiliary materials for industry.

If you are travelling with commercial goods, please be noted that commercial goods brought by a passenger or airlines crew is not exempted from customs duty, excise and other taxes. Since commercial good is subject to customs duty, excise and taxes.

Keep it in mind that every item of your belonging is considered as imported goods.

FACILITY FOR COMMERCIAL GOODS

If your goods are categorized as commercial goods, you are suggested to choose facility for temporary import. Indonesia’s regulation has two facilities you can choose to import commercial goods for your convenience.

• Passenger’s Imported Goods (PMK 203/ 2017)

If the goods you bring is not for personal used, you will be obligated to fill notification for special import goods. If you do not include clarification of the commercial goods you bring, it will be checked and inspected physically by the customs. Your imported goods with value no more than USD500 will be subjected to customs exemption. If they have value over the condition, it will be subjected to customs duty. Customs duty obligated you to pay taxes. Normally, for commercial goods you need to apply customs duty, excise, Value Added Tax (VAT 10%), Income Tax and Tax on Luxury goods (if any).

• Temporary Imported Goods

You are highly suggested to use this facility to import your commercial goods since it is more suitable for importing a good amount of goods. Temporary import is divided into two kinds of facility as follow:

Temporary Imported Goods (PMK 142/ 2011)

Temporary import according to PMK 142/ 2011 is determined as an act of importing goods in which will be re-export in 3 years of period. The terms and conditions are applied as follow:

• • • • The goods will not exhausted;
      • The goods are easy to identify;
      • The goods will not change in shape or formation for 3 years, except they worn out due to utilization;
      • The goods are supported by the documents to inform that they will be re-exported.

The period of temporary import permit is granted upon application in accordance with its intended use for a maximum period of 3 (three) years from the date of registration of temporary import customs notification. In the case of temporary import period with less than 3 (three) years, the period of the temporary import permit may be extended more than 1 (one) time based on the application, during the period of temporary import permit in which no more than three years from temporary import customs notification registration.

Can your imported goods get customs exemption? Absolutely yes! However, you need to know the terms and conditions too. For further information and details of the goods in which can be imported with custom exemption, please click here.

How to apply temporary imported goods facility?

You can get this facility by filing an application letter addressed to General Director through the Head of Custom Local Service and Supervisory Offices. However, if you are a passenger of an airlines, this condition can be avoided.

Application Letter must contain at least:

• • • • Details of type, quantity, specification, identity and estimated temporary import customs value;
      • Temporary import port of imported goods;
      • The purpose of the use of temporary imported goods;
      • Temporary use location of imported goods; and
      • Temporary import period.

The application must at least be accompanied by these supporting documents as follow:

• • • • Documents stating that the goods will be re-exported; and
      • Documents of applicant identity such as NPWP, SIUP and API/APIT.

Keep it in mind that the application you apply could be rejected or accepted. If it is accepted, the Head of Office on behalf of the Minister shall issue temporary import permit. If it is rejected, the Head of Office shall make a notice of rejection of the application by stating the reason for the denial.

Due to temporary imported goods subject to import duty exemption, the importer shall submit a guarantee to the Head of Office at the amount of the import duty and payable imports tax or in which shall be paid on the imported goods concerned. For imported goods temporarily exempted of import duty, an importer shall pay an import duty of 2% (two percent) per month or portion of the month, multiplied by the amount of temporary import period, multiplied by the amount of payable import duty for the imported goods and Value Added Tax or VAT and Sales Tax on Luxury Goods (PPnBM). In addition, on the behalf of the obligation to pay import duty, VAT or PPnBM, the importer shall submit a guarantee of the difference between the incoming fee which should be paid with the paid and the Income Tax according to article 22. Importer shall make import customs notification according to customs supplementary and / or temporary import permit documents that submitted to head of customs office no later than 3 (three) months since date of temporary import permit, accompanied by receipt of payment and / or guarantee. If the delivery of import customs notification exceeds the 3 month time limit, the temporary import permit granted shall be declared no longer valid.

Toward temporary imported goods in a non-new condition and / or subject to the import trade system shall be subject to import approval from the competent authority before the goods discharge from the customs area.

A person who is late in re-exporting imported goods is temporarily liable to administrative sanctions in the form of a fine of 100% (one hundred percent) of the import duty payable. Meanwhile, the person who does not re-export the imported goods is obliged to pay import duty and subject to administrative sanction in the form of a fine of 100% (one hundred percent) of the import duty that should be paid. The importer may be exempt from the obligation to re-export the imported temporary goods and the obligation to settle the shortage of import duty and administrative sanction based on the approval of the Head of Office or Director General due to force majeure condition. The force majeure shall be supported by a statement from the competent authority, and an event report and an official report shall be made by the relevant official.

ATA (Temporary Admission)/ CPD Carnet System

ATA/ CPD Carnet System is the facility to import your goods temporary with customs exemption using a single entry document as the replacement of national customs document. The Carnet permits the equipment or merchandise to pass customs without the payment of import duties and import taxes, such as VAT or GST.

The types of goods that can be imported using ATA/ CPD Carnet System must have these criteria:

• • • • The goods are used for performance or exhibition and other similar events;
      • The goods are used as a professional equipment;
      • The goods are used for education, science, or culture importance;
      • The goods are the tourist or visitor’s needs for exercise (sport equipment);
      • The goods are used for humanitarian interest;
      • The goods are used as transportation.

Choose ATA Carnet if you intend to bring goods for exhibition/fairs, professional equipment, commercial samples, manufacturing operation, educational-scientific-cultural, traveller’s personal effect-sports purposes, tourist publicity, frontier traffic, humanitarian purposes, and animals.

Choose CDP if you intend to bring any mean of transport.

WHAT IS CUSTOMS CLEARANCE?

What is Customs Clearance? Customs clearance is an activity of passing goods through customs for entering or leaving Indonesia. The goods you bring, either companied or not, will be checked. It is an act of synchronizing your customs declaration with your actual goods you bring. If something unusual is found inside your belongings, further inspection is unavoidable. For example, conducting body or physically inspection, re-checking your goods in X-ray, or even unloading all the goods.

HOW CAN YOU PASS CUSTOMS CLEARANCE?

After declaring the belonging on the customs declaration form and submitting it, you are suggested to determine either your goods will pass the red or green channel. If you bring some or one of items in the red channel, you are obligated to pay tax as a customs duty based on the regulation PMK/ 203/ 2017. Meanwhile, you will be served customs exemption if your items are not categorized in red channel in which it means that your goods passing the green channel. Customs will conduct analysis upon the goods declared and the passenger or crew should proceed the clearance through one of these following channels:

   Red Channel, if the passenger or crew brings any of these following items:

• • • Animals, fish and plants, including their products (vegetables, food, etc);
    • Narcotics, psychotropic substances, precursor, drugs and medicines, fire arms, air gun, sharp objects (i.e. sword, knife, etc), ammunitions, explosives and pornographic materials;
    • Currency and/or bearer negotiable instrument in Rupiah or other currencies which equal to the amount of 100 million Rupiah or more;
    • Tobacco and tobacco products:
      • More than 200 cigarettes or 25 cigars or 100 grams of sliced tobacco, and 1 litre beverages containing ethyl alcohol (for passenger); or
      • More than 40 cigarettes or 10 cigars or 40 grams of sliced tobacco, and 350 millilitre of beverages containing ethyl alcohol (for crew);
    • Commercial merchandise (article for sale, sample used for soliciting order, materials or components used for industrial purposes, and/or goods which are not considered as personal belongings); and/or
    • Goods purchased or obtained overseas which will be remain in Indonesian territory and total value exceed USD 500.00 per person and exceeds USD 50.00 per person (for crew).

Green Channel, if your items are not any goods aforementioned above in Red Channel. However, Customs has the authority to conduct physical inspections if there is any suspicious upon goods processed by Green Channel.

• • • The goods are used for exhibition outside customs dumps;
    • The goods are used for seminar;
    • The goods are used as illustration or demonstration;
    • The goods are needed by expert or scientist;
    • The goods are needed for experiment, research, science, and culture
    • The goods are used for general performance, sport, or competition;
    • Packaging that will be used for the goods to be imported or exported repeatedly or not;
    • The goods are used as sample or model;
    • The goods could be a yacht that is used by tourist;