Importing Goods into Indonesia: Importer ID and First Shipment

A company preparing its first shipment will find that importing goods into Indonesia needs no separate importer licence and no separate customs registration. Its NIB (Nomor Induk Berusaha, the business identification number) already covers both, and for goods that no list restricts, a company with its NIB needs nothing more.

This article covers the steps that come before any product registration.

Who can import into Indonesia

The NIB, issued through OSS (Online Single Submission, the government’s licensing system), is also the company’s importer identification number, the API (Angka Pengenal Importir), and its access to the customs system (PP 28/2025, Article 206(5)(a) and (b)). Only a company may use that access to import; an individual may only export (Article 206(7)).

Customs registration comes with it. A company whose NIB serves as its API and customs access is treated as already registered with Customs as an importer (PMK 219/PMK.04/2019, Article 5).

The API sits with the head office, and branches carrying on the same kind of business may use it (Permendag 16/2025, Article 3(4) and (5)).

A PT PMA, a foreign-owned limited liability company, can hold either importer type: the import rules set no condition on who owns the company. It may import and sell wholesale, but several kinds of retail, including minimarkets, most food and pharmacy retail, and retail by post and internet, are reserved for co-operatives and micro, small and medium businesses (Perpres 10/2021, Lampiran II, as amended by Perpres 49/2021). What the company may do is set by the business lines it registers under its KBLI codes (Klasifikasi Baku Lapangan Usaha Indonesia, the government’s business classification), which choosing KBLI codes in OSS explains.

General importer or producer importer

When the NIB is registered, the company chooses one of two importer types: API-U, the general importer number, or API-P, the producer importer number.

The two importer types (Permendag 16/2025, Articles 7 and 8)

	General importer (API-U)	Producer importer (API-P)
Goods for	Selling or transferring to others	Your own production: capital goods, raw or auxiliary materials
Selling on	Yes	No, except narrow listed cases: leftover materials, capital goods used for two years, or an affiliate’s market-test and after-sales goods
Changing type	Can change to producer importer	No route back to general importer is provided

Choose the type that matches what the company will do with the goods. A company holds one, not both (Article 3(3); PP 28/2025, Article 206(6)).

Check what your product needs

Before importing goods into Indonesia, the product is classified to its HS (Harmonized System) code and checked against the import rules for that code. The restricted and prohibited goods, known as lartas, are listed by code. Since August 2025 one general regulation and eight sector regulations hold the lists, replacing the 2023 regulation older guides still cite (Permendag 16/2025, Articles 95 and 96). Where a product needs something more, the application goes electronically to the Ministry of Trade through INSW, the Indonesia National Single Window (Article 11(1)).

A product lands in one of three places.

Product rules can apply on top, depending on the product: BPOM registration for food and drink (BPOM is Badan Pengawas Obat dan Makanan, the food and drug authority), the notification for cosmetics, registration of medical devices, an SNI (Standar Nasional Indonesia) certificate for listed products, and halal certification.

The first shipment

The importer declares each shipment to Customs on a PIB (Pemberitahuan Impor Barang, the import declaration), under PMK 190/PMK.04/2022.

1. 1

   Documents ready

   Invoice, packing list and bill of lading or airway bill, plus any surveyor’s report or approval.

2. 2

   Declaration

   The importer, or a customs broker it authorises, lodges the PIB electronically (Article 4).

3. 3

   Duty and taxes

   Calculated in the declaration and paid by the time it is registered (Article 16(2)).

4. 4

   Lane

   Green or red by risk; on red, documents and goods are checked first (Article 5).

5. 5

   Release

   Customs gives its release approval and the goods leave the port.

One declaration covers one bill of lading or airway bill (Article 3). There are only two lanes, green and red; older guides that describe a yellow lane are describing earlier rules.

Duty and import taxes

Goods brought into Indonesia owe import duty (UU 10/1995 on Customs, as amended by UU 17/2006, Article 2(1)), and the rate depends on the product’s HS code. Import VAT is 12% of 11/12 of the import value, 11% in effect, and the company can credit it as input tax (PMK 131/2024, Article 3), as VAT compliance for companies explains. Income tax under Article 22, PPh 22 (Pajak Penghasilan), is generally collected at 2.5% of the import value when goods come in under the company’s importer number, and at 7.5% without one, with different rates for certain listed goods (PMK 51/2025, Article 3).

What comes first

The order is short: the company and its importer type, then any product registration, then the first shipment. Settle the first before ordering anything: a foreign-owned company registered as a producer importer cannot sell on what it brings in, and has no route back to general importer.