Free Trade Zones Act

(CHAPTER 114)

(Original Enactment: Act 30 of 1966)

REVISED EDITION 1985

(30th March 1987)

An Act to provide for the establishment of free trade zones in Singapore and for matters incidental thereto.

[1st September 1969]

PART I

PRELIMINARY

Short title

1. This Act may be cited as the Free Trade Zones Act.

Interpretation

2. In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires —

“authority” means any statutory body or department of the Government or company which has been appointed under section 3(2) to administer, maintain and operate any free trade zone which has been so declared under section 3(1);

“Committee” means the Free Trade Zone Advisory Committee appointed under section 4;

“Director-General” means the Director-General of Customs and Excise appointed under section 4(1) of the Customs Act [Cap. 70];

“customs duty” means any customs duty or excise tax imposed under the Customs Act;

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

“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;

“free trade zone” means any area declared to be a free trade zone under section 3(1);

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

“manufacture”, with its grammatical variations and cognate expressions, means the process of converting materials into a new product or article, whether or not by power-operated machinery, whereby a change in tariff classification has been effected:

Provided that the Director-General may, in his discretion, determine that the result of any manufacture is not a new product or article and a change in tariff classification has not been effected;

“officer of customs” means —

(a)	the Director-General;
(b)	the Deputy Director-General, any Senior Director and any Director of Customs and Excise appointed under section 4(1) of the Customs Act [Cap. 70];
(c)	any Senior Superintendent, Superintendent or Assistant Superintendent of Customs and Excise appointed under section 4(4) of the Customs Act;
(d)	any Chief Customs Officer, Senior Customs Officer or Customs Officer appointed under section 5 of the Customs Act; and
(e)	any police officer;

“proper officer of customs” means any officer of customs acting in the fulfilment of his duties under the Customs Act, whether such duties are assigned to him specially or generally or expressly or by implication;

“senior officer of customs” means —

(a)	the Director-General;
(b)	the Deputy Director-General, any Senior Director and any Director of Customs and Excise appointed under section 4(1) of the Customs Act [Cap. 70];
(c)	any Senior Superintendent, Superintendent or Assistant Superintendent of Customs and Excise appointed under section 4(4) of the Customs Act;
(d)	any officer of customs vested with the powers of a senior officer of customs under section 4(5) of the Customs Act; and
(e)	any police officer having the powers of a senior officer of customs by virtue of section 7 of the Customs Act.

Declaration of free trade zones and appointment of authority

3.—(1) The Minister may, by notification in the Gazette, declare any area in Singapore to be a free trade zone and every such notification shall define the limits of that free trade zone.

(2) The Minister may appoint any statutory body or department of the Government or company as the authority to administer, maintain and operate any free trade zone which has been so declared under subsection (1).

Appointment of Free Trade Zone Advisory Committee

4. The Minister may, by notification in the Gazette, appoint a Free Trade Zone Advisory Committee to advise him on all matters connected with free trade zones.

Search within Legislation