What Are Red, Yellow, Green and Main Partners of Customs Lines?

The customs law authorises the Directorate General of Customs and Excise (DGCE) to inspect imported goods. The inspection is carried out to obtain import data, assess documents and physical goods and assess importers’ compliance.

Pursuant to Article 3 paragraph (2) of the Customs Law, customs inspection of imported goods is carried out by document verification and physical inspection of goods.

Line Classification
Imported goods must be inspected selectively, among others, with the determination of red, yellow, green and Main Partners of Customs lines. As such, what exactly are red, yellow, green and Main Partners of Customs lines in customs inspections?

Lines for the release of imported goods are determined based on the profile of the importer/imported goods commodities. The importer’s profile is compiled by the prevention section. On other hand, the commodity profile is compiled based on the development of the imports of types of goods subject to substantial violations.

The integration of the importer’s profile and the commodity profile further results in the determination of lines for imported goods. As per the official webpage of the Ministry of Finance, the lines of imported goods are classified into 4.

First, the red line is the service and supervision mechanism of the release of imported goods by conducting a physical inspection and document verification before the issuance of the Release Order.

The red line is determined based on several criteria, including new importers, importers/imported goods included in the high-risk category, temporarily imported goods, re-imported goods, subject to random inspection and certain imported goods determined by the government.

Second, the yellow line is the service and supervision mechanism of the release of imported goods by not conducting a physical inspection. However, these imported goods remain subject to document verification before the issuance of the Release Order.

The yellow line determined if high-risk importers import low-risk commodities, medium-risk importers import medium-risk commodities or non-priority Main Partners of Customs import high-risk commodities.

The yellow line may also be determined in the event of inadequate customs declaration documents and the complementary documents and the importers have not fulfiled other administrative requirements.

Third, the green line is the service and supervision mechanism of the release of imported goods without a physical inspection. Nevertheless, document verification will be carried out after the issuance of the Release Order.

The green line is determined if medium-risk importers import low-risk goods, low-risk importers import low- or medium-risk goods. The green line may also be determined if the importer or imported goods do not fall within the criteria of the yellow and red lines.

Fourth, the Main Partners of Customs line or priority line. This line is intended for Main Partners of Customs, namely importers selected and appointed by the Technical Director of Customs on behalf of the Director General of Customs and Excise. These Main Partners of Customs lines are reclassified into two types, namely priority and non-priority Main Partners of Customs lines.

The priority and non-priority Main Partners of Customs lines are both the service and supervision mechanism of the release of imported goods with direct issuance of the Release Order without a physical inspection and document verification. Importers included in these lines are determined by the government.

The difference between the two is that specifically for importers of non-priority Main Partners of Customs lines, inspections will continue to be carried out for re-imported goods, goods subject to a random inspection, high-risk goods and temporarily imported goods.

Conclusion
In essence, customs inspections are carried out taking into account the risk level inherent in importers and goods. The risk level is assessed based on the importer and commodity profiles and ultimately results in the determination of the lines.

The lines are classified into 4 groups, namely the red, yellow, green and Main Partners of Customs lines. The difference between the four types of lines lies in the presence or absence of physical inspections and document verification on imported goods.