From 13 September 2024 to 4 October 2024, the Ministry of Finance (“MOF“) and Singapore Customs (“Customs“) consulted on the proposed amendments to the Customs Act 1960 (“Act“) to improve the operational effectiveness of Customs and strengthen its regulatory and enforcement regime.
The key proposed amendments to the Act are summarised below:
- Enhanced regulatory and enforcement powers. Customs will be provided with additional powers to perform its regulatory and enforcement operations, including: (i) managing non-compliant licensed warehouse licensees; (ii) seizing computers, associated devices, mobile communication devices, and cash proceeds; and (iii) conducting searches on belongings of persons that are reasonably suspected to be committing or to have committed offences. Further, the Director-General of Customs will be empowered to authorise Auxiliary Police Officers to exercise certain powers of search, arrest, and seizure to better optimise manpower for enforcement operations.
- Strengthened penalties. The following amendments will be introduced for greater deterrent effect: (i) a new offence to deter individuals from taking actions that may assist others in committing offences under the Act; (ii) a new offence to penalise acts of altering, suppressing, concealing, or destroying records with the intent of obstructing investigations under the Act; and (iii) an increased maximum penalty for conviction of a specified offence where the amount of duties payable cannot be ascertained, which will also include an option for imprisonment.
For more information, please see MOF’s “Public Consultation on Proposed Customs (Amendment) Bill” and the accompanying Annex A being the draft Customs (Am`endment) Bill.
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