Another silly bureaucratic hurdle from Indonesia

Puspawarna

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Arggh. As I've posted about previously, I'm planning to take my gamelan to Hawaii in May and begin my new life as a Hawaii resident/gamelan class teacher, yay! So I've been arranging surveys with moving companies regarding the household goods I'll be shipping (mostly the gamelan, but a few personal items/furniture as well).

Technically, the shipment should be done in my husband's name - he's the one with the job that got our original shipment into Indonesia in the first place, and it's his employment that is paying for the shipping out. He is not leaving yet, though (his job doesn't end until December), but his employer has already said it is fine with them if a shipment goes out now.

Alas, the first moving company I met with told me that the Indonesian government will not allow a shipment out of the country without an EPO.

We're trying to find out if there is somehow a way around this (the obvious solution would be for ME to get an EPO and send the shipment in my name - but since it did not enter Indonesia in my name, we don't know if this work-around will be acceptable.)

Sigh. If the government screws up my lovely, lovely plans I will be SO PISSED.
 
American friends of ours bought lots of plastic rattan furniture and had it shipped without even being in Bali when it was sent. They only selected the merchandise and my wife and I managed the shipping.... in tandem with the manufacturer.
I have to say the USA import officials created problems once the furniture arrived in LA before it was trans-shipped to Seattle. Seems bureaucrats the world-over like to show their power.

Maybe try to get a company that regularly ships stuff stateside to add to their shipment....I believe the bigger the shipment the cheaper the cost.

I'm sure the shipping lanes do not follow the airline routes I pointed out in another thread...if so, when the cargo ship passes Hawaii maybe get a Haole to paddle a canoe, offload your gamelan and serenade those tourists on Waikiki beach before delivery to your mansion....:love:
 
I think the difference between your friends (and all the people on my gamelan message board who are saying "WTF?!") is who is doing the shipping and why. If the manufacturer was technically the shipper, and had an invoice from someone in the country the things were being shipped to, that is different from a foreigner shipping out personal possessions.

Not that this situation makes sense, mind you. It's still ridiculous. But I do see how the fact that other goods - even gamelan - have been successfully exported without worries over an EPO doesn't necessarily mean I will be able to. Also, the mover said that this is a rather new requirement, so maybe your friends got their rattan shipped before it took effect.
 
My guess is they need EPO for tax purpose to verify to the customs this is personal belongings and yes.. We are leaving Indonesia.

Did you contact several forwarders to confirm this "new rule"?

It should be done perhaps on your husband's employer name all that forwarding , epo ect. By HR department.
 
The moving company is right, for shipping personal belongings from ex-temporary/permanent residents Bea Cukai asks for an EPO stamp.
Maybe you can try on your EPO+marriage certificate, so the belongings are joint property, meaning they are yours as well. Indonesian bureaucracy is sometimes flexible in a positive sense.
 
Maybe you can try on your EPO+marriage certificate, so the belongings are joint property, meaning they are yours as well. Indonesian bureaucracy is sometimes flexible in a positive sense.

That's one possibility we will try, and if it works that's probably our first choice.

Another possibility is to have an Indonesian freight company that regularly ships gamelan (I already have a name) do the shipment. It would be "from" the gamelan workshop of a friend - he and his guys are coming to do the final tuning next week so I can talk to him them - directly "to" the cultural center, leaving us expats out of it. Will that work? I don't know yet, but it's better than not sending the gamelan at all. Of course, we'll have to pay for it ourselves if that happens - no getting the shipment covered by USAID. But when my husband does get an EPO, we'll ship a few personal effects then and USAID will pay.

Sigh. Why does the paperwork always have to be so complicated!!!
 
Here's where I get a bit picky (APOLOGIES) - should USAID actually cover that cargo cost any way- I assume it is some NGO thingy that has been funded by people's donations... I doubt when peeps donate to a charity they expect it to fund an employee's wife's gear being shipped halfway around the globe... but what do I know about such matters.
I'm not a fan of NGO's
HOWEVER... if its some government agency using US taxpayers cash, I have couldn't care less hehe. Better shipping your stuff than going in the GOP's pocket.
 
& I still love you Pusp & will miss you when you leave. <3
 
Now BA, you know I loves ya, but you couldn't be more wrong on this one:

1. No NGOs are involved in this little caper.

2. Even if they were, the British and American systems with respect to the relationships between NGOs and the government are completely different. I've read critiques of British NGOs and the system under which they operate, and for me as an American it's like reading complaints about the horrors of leukemia when I've got psoriasis - not to say that life with psoriasis is peachy keen, but the problems are pretty different and treatment for leukemia wouldn't make me any better.

3. This is not an indulgence for the little wifey. As part of his terms of employment, my husband is entitled to ONE shipment, and it's capped - he can't just spend as much money as he wants. When he signed a contract, part of the arrangement was that he was allowed to ship a LIMITED amount of personal effect to Indonesia, and a LIMITED amount of personal effects home afterward. The gamelan shipment will no doubt exceed that amount, and WE will pay for the balance. But saying his contract shouldn't cover his wife's stuff is no more fair than saying his contract shouldn't cover health insurance for his children. You may want everyone who works on government-funded projects to be single, but the reality is that family units can and will be part of the deal when people are hired for positions overseas.

Maybe you think it's wrong for people working in development to get any benefits for themselves or their families. You can believe that if you like, but most people recognize that people working in public service give up the profits they could make in the private sector because they believe that what they are doing makes the world a better place. OVer the years my husband was courted by big financial firms - he knows perfectly well he could have made three times the salary he has generally settled for if he just wanted to be greedy. Instead, he's chosen to work for less money, but more job satisfaction because he believes that what he does matters. (Same goes for me - as a trailing spouse I've taken whatever work I could get along the way, and my career/salary have taken a huge hit as a result, but this was my choice too. I could have said, "no, I'd rather stay in the US where we can both make big bucks.")

It's not that simple, of course - human nature and human incompetence ensure that mistakes are made, money is wasted, corruption occasionally occurs. I don't mean to paint everyone who does development work funded by USAID as a saint. Far from it. Nonetheless, you've got this particular situation all wrong.
 
Agree with Puspa. My work closely interacts with all donor and development agencies. Individually there are many good people. Institutionally there are issues to be fixed for sure. Heck I know of a particular project giving a grant for something that cost 2 to 3 times it should take .The excuse is the social, gender and environmental safeguards are followed closely .But the budget for the safeguards is about 10% of the total budget and 25% of the total is used for "project management" while the rest (65%) is used for overpriced equipment in services.

And the most common waste of money is technical assistance grants that are implemented not for the good of the country or the target group of the project, but just to meet the minimum of the project indicators while spending as little of the lump sum contract as possible .

Despite those stories, I really appreciate the good that individual people has done when they come and to the work as Puspa has clarified above. It shows their kindness and integrity and I usually tend to enjoy their company .I can feel the passion they bring to the work .
 
Sigh. Why does the paperwork always have to be so complicated!!!

To stop unscrupulous people from gaming the system for business purposes. Indonesians know Indonesians so have rules in place accordingly.

Household goods are household goods. So if the "household" is not moving until December?

I'm going with the ""from" the gamelan workshop of a friend" method.

PS. I know of a guy who brought a Harley from Canada in his "household" shipment. After 2 year contract was up and he had ridden it very few times. He packed all his "houshold" goods into a container to go home.
"Excuse me sir. Do you have a permit to export a motorcycle from Indoneisa?"

I know another guy who inventoried his household shipment and at a going away party decided to give a few CD's to a friend. When Indo customs checked the contents vs the manifest and there were a few CD's missing! All Stop!
 
I know of a guy who brought a Harley from Canada in his "household" shipment. After 2 year contract was up and he had ridden it very few times. He packed all his "houshold" goods into a container to go home.
"Excuse me sir. Do you have a permit to export a motorcycle from Indoneisa?"

I know another guy who inventoried his household shipment and at a going away party decided to give a few CD's to a friend. When Indo customs checked the contents vs the manifest and there were a few CD's missing! All Stop!

Yup, after 8 international moves, 6 of which involved Indonesia, I would believe almost any story.

Our strangest experience was when we returned the gamelan to Indonesia, after we had shipped it out. Customs wanted to charge us a HUGE duty for importing foreign musical instruments. If they were Indonesian in origin, there would be no duty. However, we were not able to convince customs for quite a while that the gamelan had been made in Indonesia.

So the gamelan sat at the port for a couple of months while we refused to pay duty on our "foreign" gamelan. Eventually they relented.
 
A friend of mine was charged$2000 to bring in his tools, so they stayed in the customs shed for a while, then with the companies Mr Fixed, they went to the shed took all the tools out and replaced them with rocks and duly returned the tool box to the UK
 
Just thought I'd update the thread with the latest - short version, it looks like everything will be fine. The work-around of getting me and EPO and shipping the goods in my name is apparently acceptable. A couple of the moving companies said they had done this without difficulty recently. It makes sense, as part of the family may need to move back before the posting is over in order for children to start school in a non-disruptive manner.

Hopefully I won't need to update this thread again until May or June when I will write, "hooray, I've just spent the day helping the cultural center unpack the gamelan." Fingers crossed.
 
Are you now in the market for some gamelan withdrawal meds to tide you over during the interim?
 
....it looks like everything will be fine. The work-around of getting me and EPO and shipping the goods in my name is apparently acceptable.

Glad to hear that. I knew it it is a bit fishy what the precious Company said to you.
 
Glad to hear that. I knew it it is a bit fishy what the precious Company said to you.

To be fair, no one said anything "fishy." They were quite correct in stating that we could not ship out household effects without an EPO. The important detail was that any EPO from the household would do - not just an EPO of the IMTA holder.
 

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