Customs (Amendment No. 2) Bill

Bill No. 30/1966

Read the first time on 17th August 1966.

An Act to amend the Customs Ordinance, 1960 (Ord. 44 of 1960).

Be it enacted by the President with the advice and consent of the Parliament of Singapore, as follows: —

Short title and commencement

1.—(1) This Act may be cited as the Customs (Amendment No. 2) Act, 1966, and shall come into operation on such date as the Minister may, by notification in the Gazette, appoint.

(2) The Minister may appoint different dates for the coming into operation of the different provisions of this Act.

Repeal and re-enactment of section 2

2. Section 2 of the Customs Ordinance, 1960 (hereinafter in this Act referred to as “the Ordinance”) is hereby repealed and the following substituted therefor: —

“Extension of operation

2. This Ordinance shall not apply —

(a)	to Pulau Sebarok or Pulau Bukom Besar in so far as petroleum is concerned; and
(b)	with the exception of the provisions of sections 33 to 35, section 83, sections 89 to 99, section 101 and sections 103 to 113, to any free trade zone.”.

Amendment of section 3

3. Section 3 of the Ordinance is hereby amended —

(a)

by deleting the definitions of “dutiable goods”, “export”, “goods”, “import” and “value” appearing therein and substituting therefor the following: —

“ “dutiable goods” means any goods subject to the payment of customs duty on entry into customs territory or manufactured in Singapore including any free trade zone and on which customs 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;

“export”, with its grammatical variations and cognate expressions, 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 such goods out of the customs territory by any means to any place including a free trade zone:

Provided that goods bona fide in transit, including goods which have been transhipped, shall not be deemed to be exported unless they are or become uncustomed goods;

“goods” includes animals, birds, fish, plants and all kinds of movable property;

“import”, with its grammatical variations and cognate expressions, means to bring or cause to be brought into the customs territory by any means from any place including a free trade zone: Provided that goods bona fide in transit, including goods which have been taken into any free trade zone from outside the customs territory or transhipped, shall not, for the purpose of the levy of customs duties, be deemed to be imported unless they are or become uncustomed goods;

“value”, in relation to imported goods, means the price which an importer would give for the goods on a purchase in the open market if the goods were delivered to him at the place of payment of customs duty and if freight, insurance, commission and all other costs, charges and expenses (except any customs duties and wharf handling, storage, removal, mechanical equipment and other like charges incurred in a free trade zone) incidental to the purchase and delivery at such place had been paid;”;

(b)

by inserting immediately after the definition of “customs duty” appearing therein the following new definition: —

“ “customs territory” means Singapore and the territorial waters thereof but excluding any free trade zone;”;

(c)

by inserting immediately after the definition of “export” appearing therein the following new definition: —

“ “free trade zone” means any area in Singapore which has been declared to be a free trade zone under the provisions of the Free Trade Zones Act, 1966 (Act of 1966); ”;

(d)

by inserting immediately after the definition of “toddy” appearing therein the following new definition: —

“ “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 six months, and includes persons in transit and such other class of persons as the Comptroller may specify by notification in the Gazette;”; and

(e)

by deleting the words “customs or licensed warehouse” appearing in the third line of subsection (2) thereof and substituting therefor the expression “Government warehouse, licensed factory warehouse or licensed warehouse”.

Amendment of section 11

4. Section 11 of the Ordinance is hereby amended by deleting subsection (1) thereof and substituting therefor the following: —

“(1) There shall be charged, levied and paid to the Comptroller such customs duties on any goods imported into the customs territory or manufactured in Singapore as may be prescribed by the Minister by order published in the Gazette.”.

Amendment of section 20

5. Section 20 of the Ordinance is hereby amended by inserting immediately after the word “Government” appearing in the fifth line of paragraph (c) of subsection (8) thereof the expression “warehouse, licensed factory warehouse”.

Amendment of section 22

6. Section 22 of the Ordinance is hereby amended —

(a)

by inserting immediately after paragraph (c) thereof the following new paragraph: —

“(d)	in the case of importation from a free trade zone, the time at which such goods enter the customs territory;”;

(b)

by deleting the word “and” appearing at the end of paragraph (e) thereof;

(c)

by deleting the full-stop appearing at the end of paragraph (f) thereof and substituting therefor the expression “; and”, and by inserting immediately thereafter the following new paragraph: —

“(h)	in the case of goods removed from the customs territory into a free trade zone for export, the time at which such goods are brought into the free trade zone.”; and

(d)

by re-lettering the existing paragraphs (d), (e) and (f) as (e), (f) and (g) respectively.

Amendment of section 45

7. Section 45 of the Ordinance is hereby amended —

(a)

by deleting subsection (1) thereof and the marginal note thereto and substituting therefor the following new subsection and marginal note: —

“Dutiable goods to be deposited in a free trade zone

(1) All dutiable goods imported into Singapore —

(a)

by sea, shall on first arrival be landed and deposited by the importer or his agent in a free trade zone; and

(b)

by any other means, shall on first arrival or landing be deposited by the importer or his agent in a Government warehouse, licensed factory warehouse or licensed warehouse or, if so required, a customs office or customs station:

Provided that the Comptroller, if he is satisfied that for any reason it is not practicable to deposit any such goods in a free trade zone or in a Government warehouse, licensed factory warehouse or licensed warehouse or a customs office or customs station, may, subject to any conditions he may impose either generally by order or in any special case, exempt any such goods from being so deposited.”;

(b)

by inserting immediately after subsection (1) thereof the following new subsection: —

“(2) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (1) of this section, any goods as may be prescribed by the Minister under subsection (4) of section 6 of the Free Trade Zones Act, 1966 (Act of 1966), shall be deposited in a Government warehouse, licensed factory warehouse or licensed warehouse and shall be liable to warehouse rent at the prescribed rates applicable to such goods. ”; and

(c)

by renumbering the existing subsections (2) and (3) thereof as (3) and (4) respectively.

Amendment of section 47

8. Section 47 of the Ordinance is hereby amended by inserting immediately after the word “Government” appearing in the second line thereof the expression “warehouse, licensed factory warehouse”.

Amendment of section 52

9. Section 52 of the Ordinance is hereby amended by inserting immediately after the words “in a” appearing in the first line of the proviso thereto the words “licensed factory warehouse or”.

Repeal and re-enactment of section 53

10. Section 53 of the Ordinance is hereby repealed and the following substituted therefor: —

“Landing of dutiable goods for transhipment

53. Dutiable goods arriving in Singapore for transhipment and landed to await the arrival of the vessel in which they are intended to be transhipped shall be landed and deposited in a free trade zone:

Provided that the Comptroller may exempt any particular goods from the operation of this section.”.

New Part IXA

11. The Ordinance is hereby amended by inserting immediately after section 72 thereof the following new Part: —

“PART IXA

DUTY FREE SHOPS FOR TOURISTS

Duty free shops for tourists

72A.—(1) The Comptroller may, in his absolute discretion, on payment of such fees as may be prescribed, grant a licence to any person (hereinafter referred to as the “licensee”) to sell goods to tourists free of duty in such premises as may be designated in the licence.

(2) Any such licence shall be for such period and subject to such conditions as may be specified in the licence.

(3) A senior officer of customs, or any officer of customs deputed by him for the purpose, shall at all times have access to any such licensed premises for the purpose of checking accounts and records and for such other purpose as may be deemed necessary.

(4) The licensee shall, for the proper conduct of his business, furnish such security as may be required by the Comptroller.

(5) Any licence granted under subsection (1) of this section may in the absolute discretion of the Comptroller be suspended or withdrawn at any time.

(6) The licensee shall not be entitled to any compensation for such suspension or withdrawal or for the surrender of any such licence, but the Comptroller may, in his absolute discretion, allow a refund of one-twelfth of the amount of the licence fee for each complete month in respect of which the licence would have remained valid had it not been suspended, withdrawn or surrendered.

Drawback on goods sold to tourists

72B. The Comptroller may allow a drawback to a licensee of the duty paid on goods which a senior officer of customs is satisfied have been sold to a tourist:

Provided that no such drawback shall be allowed unless a claim is made in the prescribed form within six months from the date of such sale.”.

Amendment of section 116

12. Subsection (1) of section 116 of the Ordinance is hereby amended —

(a)

by inserting immediately after the semi-colon appearing at the end of paragraph (i) thereof the word “or”; and

(b)

by inserting immediately thereafter the following new paragraph: —

“(j)	being a tourist, sells, exchanges or gives away, or offers to sell, exchange or give away to any person in Singapore, goods which he has purchased free of duty in Singapore;”.

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