Metrotvnews.com reports the Indonesian Minister of Finance has issued a regulation stipulating that import duty will be applied on goods brought by passengers, air crew, border crossers and mailed parcels effective January 1, 2011.
The Ministerial regulation (Peraturan Menteri Keuangan Nomor 188/PMK.04/2010), as explained by the spokesman of the Ministry of Finance, Yudi Pramadi, will impose import duties on personal belongings and/or commercial goods exceeding a certain value carried by international air and sea passengers, flight crews, border crossers and shipped items.
The amount of duty to be charged will be in accordance with the duty levels set by the government. According to the report, when more than three kinds of goods are brought by a single traveler the Customs and Excise Office will use the highest duty rate from among the items inspected, apply that rate to all the items.
Yudi said that individual travelers will be allowed to carry duty-free US$250 in personal belongings while families will enjoy a US$1,000 limit. Aircrews will be granted a smaller limit of only US$50 per person. Shipped parcels will be granted a duty-free limit of US$50.
Whenever these limits are exceeded, however, import duties will apply.
It remains unclear how custom's officer will handle tourist visitors traveling with personal effects in excess of these limits with the intention of re-exporting the items out of Indonesia at the end of their stay. This is especially worrisome as many travelers carry personal jewelry, cameras, personal computers and hand phones that easily exceed the relatively small stipulated values.
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