25 Nov 2015
NEW REGULATION ON IMPORTER'S IDENTIFICATION NUMBER

The Indonesian Minister of Trade just renewed the regulation on Importer’s Identification Number (Angka Pengenal Importir or “API”), by issuing Regulation No. 70/M-DAG/PER/9/2015 (“New Regulation”). This New Regulation was enacted on 28 September 2015, but will only come into force on 1 January 2016.

When the New Regulation comes into force, the old Regulation No. 27/M-DAG/PER/5/2012 (as amended several times, lastly by Regulation No. 84/M-DAG/PER/12/2012) (“Previous Regulation”) will cease to be in effect. However, all of the implementing regulations of the Previous Regulation will continue to be in force as long as they are not in conflict with the provisions of the New Regulation or as long as the new implementing regulations have not been issued.

The New Regulation maintains the categorization of the API into General API (“API-U”) and Producer API (“API-P”). The API-U is issued to companies for the importation of certain goods for trading purposes, whereas the API-P is issued to companies for the importation of goods for their own use and purpose as capital goods, raw material, supporting material, and/or material to support their production process. The goods imported under the API-P may not be traded or transferred to other parties.

Two important changes as a result the New Regulation:

1. Removal of the Producer Importer (Produsen Importir) permit

The Previous Regulation provides API-P holders with an opportunity to obtain a permit as Producer Importer, which would allow them to import certain goods for the purpose of their business development, which goods may be traded and transferred to other parties provided that they will only be used for market test purposes or as complementary goods.

The New Regulation takes away the provision on Producer Importer, which means that API-P holders can now only import goods for their own production process purposes. The existing permits as Producer Importer continue to be valid until their expiration.

2. Removal of importation restriction and conditions imposed on API-U Owners

Under the Previous Regulation, API-U holders could only import goods under one section of the Harmonized System (HS Code) as stipulated in their API-U Certificate. There are certain conditions allowing the API-U holders to import goods under more than one section of the HS Code, such as that the goods are imported from an overseas company which has a special relationship with the API-U holder; or that all or part of the API-U holder’s capital is owned by the state.

The special relationship as mentioned above could be acquired through:
-Contractual agreement to share control over an economical activity;
-Shares ownership;
-Articles of association;
-Agency/distributorship agreement;
-Loan agreement; or
-Supplier agreement.

The provisions of the Previous Regulation regarding importation of goods under the specified HS Code and the conditions for the importation imposed on API-U holders have been removed by the New Regulation. API-U holders can now import goods under several sections of the HS Code without the need to have a special relationship with their overseas exporters.

The transitional provision of the New Regulation states that all API-Ps and API-Us which had been issued under the Previous Regulation must be adjusted to be in line with the provisions of the New Regulation at the latest by 30 June 2016. (by: Nina Cornelia Santoso)