Customs Act 1960

Customs Act 1960 2020 REVISED EDITION This revised edition incorporates all amendments up to and including 1 December 2021 and comes into operation on 31 December 2021 An Act relating to customs and excise. [33/2000] [26 September 1960] PART 1 PRELIMINARY Short title 1. This Act is the Customs Act 1960. Scope of Act 2. This Act does not apply to — (a) such off-shore islands as the Minister may by notification in the Gazette specify, in respect of the importation, exportation, manufacture or use of motor fuel; and (b) subject to the provisions of this Act or any other written law, any act or thing lawfully done or permitted to be done within a free trade zone. [29/2018] Interpretation 3.—(1) In this Act — “agent”, in relation to a vessel, includes a chinchew and a comprador; “aircraft” includes any kind of craft which may be used for the conveyance of passengers or goods by air; “alcohol” means ethanol; “authentication code” means any identification or identifying code, password or any other authentication method or procedure which has been assigned to a registered user of the computer service mentioned in section 86 for the purposes of identifying and authenticating the access to and use of the computer service by the registered user; “auxiliary police officer” means an auxiliary police officer appointed under the Police Force Act 2004; [Act 6 of 2025 wef 01/04/2025] “bottle” includes any container for intoxicating liquors capable of being corked or sealed; “bottling”, in the case of intoxicating liquors, includes blending, compounding and varying any intoxicating liquor with intent that the blend, compound or varied intoxicating liquor so formed be sold for human consumption, but does not include any such blend, compound or varied intoxicating liquor prepared at the order of a purchaser, and for immediate consumption; “bottling warehouse” means a warehouse licensed by the Director‑General for the bottling, blending, compounding or varying of intoxicating liquor under section 66(1) or 83(4); “captain of an aircraft” means every person having or taking command or charge of an aircraft; “complete month” means the period from the first day of a month to the last day of the month, both days inclusive; “customs airport” means any place which has been designated as a customs airport; “customs duty” means duty on goods imported into Singapore, excluding any excise duty; “customs territory” means Singapore and the territorial waters thereof but excluding any free trade zone; “database report” means any automatic log, journal or other report which is automatically generated by the computer service mentioned in section 86 for the purposes of recording the details of a transaction relating to an electronic notice including the authentication code, date and time of receipt, storage location and any alteration or deletion relating to the notice; “deleterious substance” means any matter — (a) which is unfit for human consumption; or (b) the consumption of which is harmful to human beings, as certified by an analyst employed by such laboratory as the Director‑General may specify; “denatured” means rendered unfit for human consumption to the satisfaction of the Director‑General; “Director‑General” means the Director‑General of Customs appointed under section 4(1); “dutiable goods” means any goods subject to the payment of customs duty or excise duty on entry into customs territory or manufactured in Singapore (including any free trade zone) and on which customs duty or excise duty has not been paid and includes goods manufactured in a free trade zone from materials of a class dutiable on entry into customs territory for consumption within the customs territory; “electronic notice” has the meaning given by section 86(1); “excise duty” means duty on goods whether manufactured in Singapore or elsewhere; “export” means to take or cause to be taken out of the customs territory by any means or to place goods in any form of conveyance for the purpose of taking the goods out of the customs territory by any means to any place including a free trade zone; except that goods bona fide in transit, including goods which have been transhipped, are not deemed to be exported unless they are or become uncustomed goods; “free trade zone” means any area in Singapore which has been declared to be a free trade zone under the Free Trade Zones Act 1966; “goods” includes animals, birds, fish, plants and all kinds of movable property; “Government warehouse” means a warehouse established by the Director‑General under section 49 for the deposit of dutiable goods; “Green Channel” means any passage or area in a customs airport or customs station clearly indicated with a sign in the shape of a regular octagon and marked in green with the words “Customs” and “Nothing To Declare”; “heavy oil or diesel oil” includes any liquid, other than petroleum, which is or may be used as a fuel in the engine of a traction engine or motor vehicle; “import” means to bring or cause to be brought into the customs territory by any means from any place including a free trade zone; except that goods bona fide in transit, including goods which have been taken into any free trade zone from outside the customs territory or transhipped, are not, for the purpose of the levy of customs duties or excise duties, deemed to be imported unless they are or become uncustomed goods; “importer” includes and applies to any owner or other person for the time being possessed of or beneficially interested in any goods at and from the time of importation thereof until the goods are duly removed from customs control; “intoxicating liquor” means — (a) a mixture of alcohol and some other substances containing more than 0.5 per cent alcohol by mass; or (b) a mixture of alcohol and water containing more than 0.5 per cent alcohol by volume, which is fit, or intended, or can by any means be converted, for use as a beverage, but does not include denatured spirit; “in transit” means taken out or sent from any country and brought into Singapore by land, sea or air (whether or not landed or transhipped in Singapore) for the sole purpose of being carried to another country either by the same or another conveyance; “licensed FTZ operator” has the meaning given by section 2 of the Free Trade Zones Act 1966; [Act 33 of 2023 wef 01/03/2024] “licensed warehouse” means a warehouse or other place licensed or deemed to be licensed under section 51(1), 63(1), or 83(4) (if the licence granted under section 83(3) covers an activity for which a licence under section 51(1), 63(1) or 66(1) is required); “local craft” means any junk, tongkang, prahu, or other similar type of vessel, and any steam or motor vessel under 75 net registered tons and includes any type of motor vessel whether fitted with inboard engine or outboard motor; “manufacture” — (a) in the case of intoxicating liquors, includes the process of distillation, fermentation and any process of converting raw materials into an intoxicating liquor, but does not include blending, compounding and varying of any intoxicating liquor; (b) in the case of tobacco, includes the process of converting any raw or leaf tobacco into tobacco fit for smoking, snuffing or chewing and the making of cigarettes by power‑operated machinery; and (c) in the case of any other goods or substitutes thereof, includes any process of production, assembly, purification, blending or conversion of materials, substances or components of such goods or substitutes into a finished product; “master” means any person (except a pilot or harbour master) having for the time being control or charge of a vessel; “mobile communication device” means — (a) a mobile phone; or (b) any wireless handheld device (such as a tablet computer) or wearable device (such as a smart watch) designed or capable of being used for a communication function; [Act 6 of 2025 wef 01/04/2025] “motor fuel” means any fuel used in the propulsion of any conveyance; “motor spirit” includes gasoline, petrol or any inflammable hydrocarbon liquid fuel for spark ignited engines; “motor vehicle” means a mechanically-propelled vehicle primarily intended or adapted for use in the conveyance of goods or in the carriage of passengers (including any person driving the vehicle) on roads maintained at the public expense, and includes any vehicle constructed to tow any other vehicle along such roads, but does not include such vehicles as excavators, crawlers, bulldozers, tractors and any similar vehicles which are not primarily intended for use on such roads; “officer of customs” means — (a) the Director‑General; (b) any Deputy Director‑General of Customs or Assistant Director‑General of Customs appointed under section 4(2); (c) any senior officer of customs appointed under section 4(4); (d) any officer of customs appointed under section 5(2); and (e) any police officer; “owner” includes a hirer under a hire-purchase agreement; “per cent alcohol by mass” means the measure of alcoholic strength of a mixture of alcohol and some other substances shown by the ratio, expressed as a percentage, of the mass of alcohol present in the mixture to the total mass of the mixture; “per cent alcohol by volume” means the measure of alcoholic strength of a mixture of alcohol and water shown by the ratio, expressed as a percentage, of the volume of alcohol present in the mixture at a temperature of 20 degrees Celsius to the total volume of the mixture; “petroleum” includes the liquids commonly known by the names of rock oil, Rangoon oil, Burma oil, kerosene and kerosene substitutes, paraffin oil, petrol, gasoline, benzol, benzoline, benzine, naphtha and any other similar inflammable liquid, whether a natural product or one that is made from petroleum, coal, schist, shale or any other bituminous substance, or from any products thereof; “preventive vessel” means any vessel employed for the prevention of smuggling or for any other purpose relating to this Act; “prohibited goods” means goods the import or export of which is prohibited, either conditionally or absolutely, by notification made under section 38; “proper officer of customs” means any officer of customs acting in the fulfilment of his or her duties under this Act, whether such duties are assigned to him or her specially or generally or expressly or by implication; “Red Channel” means any passage or area in a customs airport or customs station clearly indicated with a sign in the shape of a square marked in red with the words “Customs” and “Goods To Declare”; “registered user” means a person who has been registered with and authorised by the Director‑General to gain access to and use the computer service mentioned in section 86; “Registrar” means the Registrar of Vehicles or a Deputy Registrar of Vehicles or an Assistant Registrar of Vehicles appointed under the Road Traffic Act 1961; “senior officer of customs” means — (a) the Director‑General; (b) any Deputy Director‑General of Customs or Assistant Director‑General of Customs appointed under section 4(2); (c) any senior officer of customs appointed under section 4(4); (d) any officer of customs conferred with the powers of a senior officer of customs under section 5(3); and (e) any police officer having the powers of a senior officer of customs by virtue of section 7(a); “tobacco” includes all tobacco other than growing tobacco, whether manufactured or not; “toddy” means the fermented juice of coconut or other palm; “tourist” means any person whose entry into Singapore is dependent upon the presentation of a passport or other travel document and whose stay in Singapore does not exceed 6 months, and includes persons in transit and such other class of persons as the Director‑General may, by notification in the Gazette, specify; “uncustomed goods” means goods in respect of which a breach of the provisions of this Act has been committed. [3/2008; 25/2011; 29/2018; S 270/71] [Act 6 of 2025 wef 01/04/2025] (2) For the purposes of this Act, goods are deemed to be under customs control while they are deposited or held in any free trade zone, Government warehouse, licensed warehouse, or bottling warehouse or post office or in any vessel, train, vehicle or aircraft or any place from which they may not be removed except with the permission of the proper officer of customs. [3/2008] (3) In this Act, a reference to a document or record includes, in addition to a document or record on paper, a reference to any, or part of any — (a) document or record kept on any magnetic, optical, chemical or other medium; (b) photograph; (c) map, plan, graph, picture or drawing; (d) film (including a microfilm and a microfiche), negative, disc, tape, soundtrack or any other device in which one or more visual images, sounds or other data are embodied so as to be capable (with or without the aid of some other equipment) of being reproduced therefrom. (4) In this Act, a reference to a document or record in writing or the making of a document or record in writing, unless the context otherwise requires, includes any electronic notice, or the making, serving or submitting of such a notice under the provisions of this Act.