The Indonesia Customs and Excise Department (ICED), which sits under the Ministry of Finance, will use the blockchain-enabled TradeLens platform, a joint venture between AP Moeller – Maersk and IBM, in Indonesia, a departmental statement said on on 18 February.
The latest announcement follows several months of implementation since the department first said it was joining the TradeLens ecosystem at the end of last year. The ICED is the third government agency in Southeast Asia to use the platform, after Singapore and Thailand.
TradeLens says it will provide the ICED with an automatic and immutable tracking tool which will lead to a more secure, transparent, efficient and simpler workflow, with near real-time information sharing from a diverse network of ecosystem members.
ICED is working on expanding the National Logistics Ecosystem (NLE) which will enable both demand and supply sectors of the logistic community to meet and collaborate effectively. Using a system called CEISA 4.0 (Customs Excise Information System and Automation), they plan to expand the NLE, bringing together importers and exporters to collaborate and share information with logistics providers.
Authorities will now be able to receive shipping data as soon as containers leave the port of origin. This will give the ICED more time to prepare to receive shipments, thereby enabling more efficient and thorough fraud and forgery inspections as well as more consistent and transparent revenue collection processes, according to TradeLens.
“The customs and excise department aims to leverage the blockchain solution to simplify the exchange of goods, automate documentation and increase co-operation and communication between counterparties,” Mr. Deni Sujantoro, Head of Communications and Publications for the Custom and Excise Office commented.