Customs Duties Order 1996

Status:

Published in Subsidiary Legislation Supplement
on 05 Jan 1996

No. S 1

Customs Act

(Chapter 70)

Customs Duties Order 1996

In exercise of the powers conferred by section 10(1) of the Customs Act, the Minister for Finance hereby makes the following Order:

Citation and commencement

1. This Order may be cited as the Customs Duties Order 1996 and shall come into operation on 5th January 1996.

Duties to be levied

2.—(1) The customs duties to be levied and paid under the Customs Act upon any goods imported into or manufactured in Singapore shall, subject to the provisions of this Order, be at the rates set out in column (5), (6) or (7) of the Schedule, as the case may be, and shall —

(a)	where the rate of duty is expressed as a percentage, be such percentage of the value of the goods;
(b)	where the rate of duty is expressed as a sum of money, be the sum specified in respect of each unit of quantity specified in column (4) of the Schedule, unless otherwise stated;
(c)	where the rate of duty is expressed either as a percentage or as a sum of money, be the greater of the amounts calculated on such rates;
(d)	where the rate of duty is expressed as a percentage plus a sum of money, be the aggregate of such percentage and sum of money; and
(e)	where the rate of duty is expressed either as a percentage plus a sum of money or as a sum of money, be the greater of the amounts calculated on such rates.

(2) Except for all imports under Heading No. 27.10 in column (1) of the Schedule, the rate of duty payable on imported goods shall be the aggregate of the rates set out in columns (5) and (7) of the Schedule.

(3) The rate of duty payable for all imports under Heading No. 27.10 in column (1) of the Schedule shall be the rates set out in column (5) of the Schedule.

(4) The rate of duty payable on goods proved to the satisfaction of the Director-General to have been lawfully manufactured in Singapore shall be the excise rates of duty specified in column (7) of the Schedule.

Goods and services tax to be levied

(5) The rate of goods and services tax (GST) payable under the Goods and Services Tax Act [Cap. 117A] for all imports shall be as specified in column (8) of the Schedule.

(6) The Director-General or any senior officer of customs authorised by him may, in his discretion, waive the payment of customs duty in any case where the duty payable does not exceed $20.

(7) The Director-General or any senior officer of customs authorised by him may accept payment of customs duty where the difference between the amount of duty declared by any person and the amount of duty computed by the Director-General or the senior officer of customs is less than one dollar.

Inter-pretation

3. The following rules of interpretation shall be used for the classification of all goods by the Director-General or any senior officer of customs authorised by him:

(1) The titles of Sections, Chapters and sub-Chapters are provided for ease of reference only; for legal purposes, classification shall be determined according to the terms of the headings and any relative Section or Chapter Notes and, provided such headings or Notes do not otherwise require, according to rules (2) to (6).

(2) (a) Any reference in a heading to an article shall be taken to include a reference to that article incomplete or unfinished, except that, as presented, the incomplete or unfinished article has the essential character of the complete or finished article. It shall also be taken to include a reference to that article complete or finished (or falling to be classified as complete or finished by virtue of this rule), presented unassembled or disassembled.

(b)

Any reference in a heading to a material or substance shall be taken to include a reference to mixtures or combinations of that material or substance with other material or substance. Any reference to goods of a given material or substance shall be taken to include a reference to goods consisting wholly or partly of such material or substance. The classification of goods consisting of more than one material or substance shall be according to the principles of rule (3).

(3) When by application of rule (2)(b) or for any other reason, goods are, prima facie, classifiable under two or more headings, classification shall be effected as follows:

(a)	the heading which provides the most specific description shall be preferred to headings providing a more general description. However, when two or more headings each refer to part only of the materials or substances contained in mixed or composite goods or to part only of the items in a set put up for retail sale, those headings are to be regarded as equally specific in relation to those goods, even if one of them gives a more complete or precise description of the goods;
(b)	mixtures, composite goods consisting of different materials or made up of different components and goods put up in sets for retail sale, which cannot be classified by reference to paragraph (a ), shall be classified as if they consisted of the material or component which gives them their essential character, insofar as this criterion is applicable;
(c)	when goods cannot be classified by reference to paragraph (a ) or (b ), they shall be classified under the heading which occurs last in numerical order among those which equally merit consideration.

(4) Goods which cannot be classified in accordance with the above rules shall be classified under the heading appropriate to the goods to which they are most akin.

(5) In addition to rules (1) to (4), this rule and rule (6) shall apply in respect of the goods referred to therein:

(a)

Camera cases, musical instrument cases, gun cases, drawing instrument cases, necklace cases and similar containers, specially shaped or fitted to contain a specific article or set of articles, suitable for long-term use and presented with the articles for which they are intended, shall be classified with such articles when of a kind normally sold therewith. This rule shall not, however, apply to cases and containers which form the essential character.

(b)

Subject to paragraph (a ), packing materials and packing containers presented with the goods therein shall be classified with the goods if they are of a kind normally used for packing such goods. However, this paragraph shall not apply when such packing materials or packing containers are clearly suitable for repetitive use.

(6) For legal purposes, the classification of goods in the subheadings of a heading shall be determined according to the terms of those subheadings and any related Subheading Notes and, mutatis mutandis, to rules (2), (3), (4) and (5) on the understanding that only subheadings at the same level are comparable. For the purposes of this rule, the relative Section and Chapter Notes also apply, unless the context otherwise requires.

Preferential rate of duty

4.—(1) Where a preferential rate of duty is specified in the Schedule in respect of a particular class of goods, duty at such preferential rate shall be levied and shall be paid by the importer in lieu of the corresponding full duty only in respect of goods of that class which are shown to the satisfaction of the Director-General to have originated from and consigned direct from the following countries of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN):

(a)	Negara Brunei Darussalam;
(b)	The Republic of Indonesia;
(c)	Malaysia;
(d)	The Republic of the Philippines;
(e)	The Kingdom of Thailand; and
(f)	The Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

(2) Where no preferential rate of duty is specified, the full rate of duty shall apply.

(3) Goods shall be deemed to have originated from and consigned direct from the countries mentioned in sub-paragraph (1) where they conform with the Rules of Origin annexed to the Agreement on ASEAN Common Effective Preferential Tariff (CEPT) Scheme for the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA).

(4) A claim that goods qualify for preferential duty shall be supported by a Certificate of Origin issued by the Government authorities designated by the exporting Contracting State except that where a consignment does not exceed $500 in value, the requirement of that Certificate may be waived at the discretion of a senior officer of customs.

(5) The Director-General may, in his discretion, refuse acceptance of duty at the preferential rate.

Revocation

5. The Customs Duties Order is revoked.

[O 4.]

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