November 7, 2025 | 02:34 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Directorate General of Customs and Excise and the Special Task Force for State Revenue Optimization (OPN Task Force) of the Indonesian National Police have detained 87 containers intended for export to China. The containers held 1,802 tons of crude palm oil (CPO) derivative products, valued at Rp28.7 billion, which are suspected of having falsified customs documents.
Director General of Customs and Excise, Djaka Budi Utama, stated that they are still investigating allegations of other customs violations. At Tanjung Priok Port, an additional 200 containers, weighing 4,700 tons and valued at Rp63.5 billion, remain under examination. "There are also 50 other containers at Belawan Port valued at Rp14.1 billion," Djaka announced at Tanjung Priok on Thursday, November 6, 2025.
Containers belonging to PT MMS are suspected of having contents that do not match the information registered with Customs and Excise, which constitutes the alleged customs violation.
The export documents of PT MMS claimed the product was a CPO derivative classified as fatty matter. Palm oil derivative products in this classification are not subject to export duties or tariffs. However, laboratory tests conducted by Customs and Excise and the Bogor Agricultural Institute (IPB) showed that the contents of the detained containers were not, in fact, fatty matter.
This finding originated from an analysis conducted by the OPN Task Force. The joint team from the Finance Ministry's Directorate General of Customs and Excise and the OPN Task Force suspect a pattern of tax evasion in the export practices carried out by PT MMS. While further testing on the products is ongoing, it is strongly suspected that the products should be subject to export fees.
Aulia Postiera, a member of the OPN Task Force, stated that there was a surge in the export of fatty matter after restrictions were tightened on the export of Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME) through Trade Minister Regulation No. 2 of 2025. "Previously, POME exports skyrocketed," she noted.
The OPN Task Force subsequently detected a suspicious increase in fatty matter exports. Throughout 2025, exports to China reached 73,000 tons. The Task Force conducted an extensive study and analysis, including a mirror analysis of Chinese import companies.
Following this, the team coordinated with Customs and Excise to take action against PT MMS in Tanjung Priok. "And it turned out that this is not fatty matter as registered," she confirmed.
The enforcement operation also involved the Directorate General of Taxation of the Ministry of Finance. From an initial analysis, the DGT found a potential loss of state revenue of around Rp140 billion due to the price difference (under-invoicing) between the value stated in the export documents and the actual price of the contents of the 87 violating containers.
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