Circular No.: 12/2013 — Advisory: Traders and Declaring Agents Acting as Importer or Exporter of Goods

55 Newton Road #10-01 Revenue House Singapore 307987 Tel: +65 6355 2000 Fax: +65 6250 9605 E-mail: customs_documentation@customs.gov.sg Website: http://www.customs.gov.sg Circular No.: 12/2013 Date: 7 October 2013 All Traders and Declaring Agents ADVISORY: TRADERS AND DECLARING AGENTS ACTING AS IMPORTER OR EXPORTER OF GOODS Singapore Customs has recently observed that a number of traders and declaring agents have allowed their Unique Entity Number (UEN) to be used as the importer or exporter in TradeNet® declarations for goods that do not belong to them. In one such case, a declaring agent, as requested by its customer, declared itself as the importer for a consignment without knowing its actual content. The consignment was declared to contain garments but contraband cigarettes were found upon inspection of the container.

2 We would like to bring to your attention that by declaring yourself as importer or exporter, you are responsible for ensuring that the importation or exportation of the goods complies with all regulatory requirements. The responsibilities of the importer or exporter includes ensuring that all the information furnished for making the TradeNet® declaration is true and correct. You may wish to refer to the Terms and Conditions for Declaring Entities and Declaring Agents from our website at: (a) http://www.customs.gov.sg/NR/rdonlyres/AE107A3B-88F7-4052-95EE- CE7093F53D93/0/TCsDEfinal.pdf; and (b) http://www.customs.gov.sg/NR/rdonlyres/8996730E-882B-4E55-BC15- 9742CEAF6EE3/0/TCsDAfinal.pdf respectively.

3 We would therefore like to remind all traders and declaring agents to refrain from acting as the importer or exporter for goods which do not belong to you. You may be liable for penalties in the event the goods are subject matter of an offence under the Customs Act, the Regulation of Imports and Exports Act or other legislation. A person guilty of making an incorrect declaration under the Customs Act is liable on conviction to a fine up to S$10,000 or one time the amount of duty and GST, whichever is higher, and/or imprisonment for up to 12 months.

4 For more information, please contact our Singapore Customs Call Centre at Tel. 63552000. To report any suspicious or illegal activities, please contact our 24-hour toll-free hotline at 1800 2330000 or email us at customs_intelligence@customs.gov.sg. KELLY CHAR (MS) HEAD PERMITS COMPLIANCE BRANCH for DIRECTOR-GENERAL OF CUSTOMS SINGAPORE CUSTOMS Our Vision: A leading Customs that advances Singapore’s economy by assuring the integrity of the trading system <!-- page break -->