Definition and Import License Requirements that You Need to Know

Corporate Secretary Service Indonesia – Import activity is legally transporting goods or commodities from one country to another, generally in the trade process. In other words, import activities are entering goods or commodities from different countries into the country. Import activities play a very important role in a country’s ability to meet the needs of people who cannot be produced in their own country due to limited resources.

Local and foreign business actors who will carry out legal import activities must know how to apply for a license to import goods in accordance with applicable procedures and regulations so that the import of goods carried out has a permit or license officially and legally. An import license is a permit granted by the government to business actors, both local and foreign, to carry out product import activities in the Indonesian customs territory.

Purpose and Benefits of Import Activities

Import activities in Indonesia have several purposes or benefits, including the following:

1. Fulfilling domestic needs that cannot be met due to limited resources
2. To be able to obtain goods or raw materials that are not produced by the country
3. Improve the balance of payments, suppress inflation, and reduce the potential for foreign exchange outflows to other countries
4. Increase the potential for the fulfillment of a particular commodity or item
5. Supporting country stability and economic development
6. From the importer’s side, import activities are a profitable business because there is a selling margin with the purchase price of imported goods

Import Licensing in the OSS System

To be able to carry out import activities legally, importers must complete several requirements related to the import of goods, the documents that must be completed must also know what types of commodities are allowed and prohibited to be imported. Previously, the Ministry of Trade could only process import permit processing manually. However, since the issuance of OSS (Online Single Submission), import license processing can be done online relatively faster than when processed manually.

Read Also: What is Export? Understand the Definition & Benefits

With OSS, importers no longer need to obtain an Importer Identification Number or Angka Pengenal Importir (API) and Customs Identification Number or Nomor Induk Kepabeanan (NIK) as a basic import license. This new system requires all business entities to register through OSS. After the registration process is complete, each business actor will get a Business Identification Number or Nomor Induk Berusaha (NIB).

NIB plays a very important role in the Indonesian business licensing process because all licensing processes are under the auspices of the OSS system. In addition to containing company data, NIB is valid as a Company Registration Certificate or Tanda Daftar Perusahaan (TDP), Importer Identification Number or Angka Pengenal Importir (API), and customs access. NIB is now a substitute for the Company Registration Certificate, Importer Identification Number (for import licenses), and Customs Identification Number.

Business actors who want to import must have an Importer Identification Number (API). Without an API, business actors cannot carry out import activities. Currently, two types of APIs apply: API-U for the public and API-P for producers.

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