Investing in Indonesia – Imports

There are certain restrictions on the importation into Indonesia of commercial goods, depending on the particular goods/products.

For example, the importation of sugar requires a special licence and is only allowed for the purpose of use as a raw material to support the production process. This restriction was imposed to protect Indonesia's domestic sugar industry.

There are also restrictions on the import of certain species of shrimp and hazardous waste.

Import duties are payable at rates from 0% to 150% of customs value of imported goods, although currently the highest rate is 40%.

The customs value is calculated based on the Cost, Insurance and Freight (CIF). The specific import duties are provided in the Indonesia Customs Tariff Book.

Indonesia has its own Indonesian National Standard for commercial goods to be distributed in Indonesia. This standard is formulated using the World Trade Organization (WTO) Code of Good Practice. Further, to reduce the barrier for imported commercial goods, Indonesia has entered into the:

• Agreement on Technical Barrier to Trade (TBT).
• Agreement on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS).

In most cases, separate safety regulations apply to highly regulated goods, such as imported drugs.

Commercial importers must be aware of certain regulatory applications for certain industries to avoid delays or issues in importing such commercial goods.

This first appeared in Establishing a Business in Indonesia, published by Thomson Reuters Practical Law. 

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