Items Held by Customs at Bali Airport: How to Get Them Back

Goods held by Indonesian Customs at I Gusti Ngurah Rai Airport can be recovered in three ways: paying the import duty and taxes, supplying the missing permit, or taking them out of Indonesia again (re-export). Time is limited. Under Finance Ministry Regulation PMK 92/2025, goods kept in temporary storage for more than 30 days become "goods declared unclaimed" (BTD), and the owner then gets 60 more days before they are auctioned, destroyed or forfeited to the state. The rules below were checked in October 2026 against the regulation texts on peraturan.go.id.

Step 1: Get a written document before leaving the inspection desk

Do not leave with only a verbal explanation. Ask for a document showing a number, date, description and quantity of goods, and the reason for holding them. If goods are seized over a suspected violation, it is usually a Surat Bukti Penindakan (enforcement record). If they are only held pending payment or a permit, you get a receipt or assessment. Names vary, but without the document number you will struggle to trace the goods later. Photograph the document and the goods.

Step 2: Confirm why they were held

The reason decides the way out:

• Value above the exemption. Passengers' personal goods are duty-free up to FOB USD500 per person per arrival. Above that, 10 percent import duty applies to the excess value, plus VAT (or VAT and luxury tax for luxury goods). Since PMK 34/2025 took effect on 6 June 2025, import income tax is not collected on passengers' personal goods. Details are in Bali's duty-free shopping allowance.
• Restricted goods (lartas). Medicines, supplements and cosmetics in quantity, plants, certain foods, or anything needing another agency's permit. This is what piles up most at Ngurah Rai: a Customs study found 97.91 percent of restricted-goods notices at that office in March-June 2025 involved products regulated by BPOM, the food and drug agency.
• Prohibited goods. Narcotics, weapons and other banned items cannot be redeemed. They become state property at once and the matter becomes enforcement, not collection.

Step 3: Pay the duty if that is the reason

The customs officer sets the tariff and customs value on the Customs Declaration or a special import document, and that document is the basis for payment. You pay with a billing code to the state treasury through an appointed bank or payment channel. Keep the receipt and show it to the officer to get the release approval. If you disagree with the assessed value, ask about the objection procedure before paying, because objections have their own deadline.

Step 4: Supply the permit, or choose re-export

For restricted goods you must hand in the permit from the relevant agency (for example BPOM's special access scheme for medicines or supplements). If a permit is unrealistic during a holiday, re-export is usually more sensible: the goods leave with you when you fly home, after outstanding costs (including warehouse rent) are paid. Tell the officer this at the start and ask how many hours before departure you must come. Arrive earlier than usual, because the goods must be brought out of the warehouse and handed over at the departure terminal.

Step 5: Count your deadline

• Days 1-30: goods are in temporary storage. This is the easiest window to settle.
• After 30 days: goods are declared BTD and moved to a customs warehouse (TPP). Customs notifies the owner in writing to settle within 60 days.
• After 60 days in the TPP: goods are inventoried, then destroyed, auctioned or made state property. Restricted goods whose permit never arrives become state property.
• Exception: rotten, expired or perishable goods (fresh fruit and vegetables) can be destroyed or auctioned immediately without waiting.

Warehouse rent keeps running. The longer you wait, the more it costs to redeem, so for low-value items letting go is often the sensible choice.

Step 6: Use official contacts, not middlemen

Indonesian Customs' official contact is Bravo Bea Cukai on 1500225 and the website beacukai.go.id. For your goods, go straight to the Customs counter in the Ngurah Rai international arrivals terminal with your passport and the Step 1 document. Be wary of anyone offering a "release service" at the airport or via private message. Official payment always goes by billing code to the state treasury, never in cash to an individual.

What is still unclear

PMK 92/2025 took effect 90 days after promulgation (it was signed on 18 December 2025), so cases that began before it applied may still fall under PMK 178/2019. We found no Ngurah Rai Customs page setting out the passenger re-export procedure step by step, so confirm the Step 4 sequence with the officer. For the overall airport flow, see our Ngurah Rai airport guide.