Singapore Customs

Government agency

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Department of Customs and Excise (CED)

Jurisdictional structureOperations jurisdictionSingaporeSpecialist jurisdiction

Customs, excise and gambling.

Operational structureHeadquarters55 Newton Road, Revenue House, Singapore 307987Elected officer responsible

Lawrence Wong, Minister of Finance

Agency executive

Tan Hung Hooi, Director-General of Customs

Parent agencyMinistry of FinanceWebsitewww.customs.gov.sg

The Singapore Customs is a government agency under the Ministry of Finance of the Government of Singapore. Singapore Customs was reconstituted on 1 April 2003, after the Customs and Excise Department and the Trade Facilitation Division and Statistics Audit Unit of International Enterprise Singapore (IE Singapore) were merged.^[1] The border function's at the land, air and sea checkpoints were also simultaneously transferred to Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA). Singapore Customs became the lead agency on trade facilitation and revenue enforcement matters. It is also responsible for the implementation of customs and trade enforcement measures including those related to Free Trade Agreements and strategic goods.

The headquarters is located in Revenue House along Newton Road, Novena.

Goods and Services Tax (GST) Refund for Tourists

The Customs of Singapore is assisting on behalf of the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) to administer the GST endorsement for the Tourist Refund Scheme (TRS) at Changi Airport Terminals 1-4.

History

The Customs Department was founded when Singapore was the British Empire's Straits Settlements and later Crown Colony. Established in 1910 under the name Government Monopolies Department, Customs is one of the oldest tax-collecting organisations in modern Singapore to increase the country's state coffers to help fund national programmes. Revenue collection began in December 1909 when the first import duty was imposed on hard liquors. In 1916, the tariff was extended to include tobacco and cigarettes. The collection of duty on petroleum was introduced in 1934. Motor vehicles are also subject to tax and excise duties. Effective 1 January 2012, compressed natural gas (CNG) for motor vehicles is subject to tax and excise duty.

The department has gone through many transitions, mergers, and re-organizations in the last century under the government of Singapore. The department's responsibilities in securing Singapore's future are affected by worldwide globalization, market forces and changes in laws, tariffs, trading and traveling trends.

On 1 April 2003, the department was re-constituted as Singapore Customs - a government agency transferred to the Ministry of Finance of Singapore - providing essential services for revenue collection and enforcement, trade documentation, trade facilitation, and security functions as Singapore’s single authority on customs and trade regulatory matters.^[2]

On 15 November 2019, the new Customs Operations Command building was officially opened at Bulim Drive off Jalan Bahar in Jurong West. This will allow for intelligence, investigation and compliance-related functions to come under the command.^[3]

Primary roles and functions

Singapore Customs' primary roles and functions are:

collection of customs revenue;
protection of customs revenue by preventing the evasion of duties and taxes;
provision of one-stop service for trade and customs matters, such as issuance of permits, licenses and Certificates of Origin, and provision of classification and valuation advice;
facilitation of trade through simplification of customs procedures and administration of tax break schemes;
enforcement of trade requirements under the respective Free Trade Agreements (FTAs);
regulation of trade in strategic goods and strategic goods technology; and
enforcement against the illegal buying and selling of all kinds of duty-unpaid tobacco and liquors.

Organisational structure

Singapore Customs is currently headed by a Director-General, who is assisted by a Deputy Director-General, 3 Senior Assistant Directors-General, 4 Assistant Directors-General, a Chief Human Resource Officer, and a Chief Information Technology Officer.

The work of Singapore Customs is performed by the Trade Division, Compliance Division, Human Resource Directorate, Policy & Planning Division, Checkpoints Division, Intelligence & Investigation Division, Ops-Tech & Management Division, and the Information Technology Directorate.

Each branch in a division is typically headed by a Chief Superintendent of Customs or a non-uniform equivalent.

The Internal Audit Branch reports directly to the Director-General of Customs.^[4]

Senior Management
Appointment	Rank	Abbreviation	Name
Director-General (Customs)	Director-General	DG	Tan Hung Hooi
Deputy Director-General (Policy & Facilitation)	Deputy Director-General	DDG (P&F)	Lim Teck Leong
Senior Assistant Director-General (Intelligence & Investigation)	Senior Assistant Director-General	SADG (I&I)	Lee Tiow Yong
Assistant Director-General (Policy & Planning)	Assistant Director-General	ADG (P&P)	Lim Teck Leong (Covering)
Senior Assistant Director-General (Checkpoints)	Senior Assistant Director-General	SADG (CP)	Sung Pik Wan
Assistant Director-General (Compliance)	Assistant Director-General	ADG (C)	Winston Tay Wee Hua
Assistant Director-General (Intelligence & Investigation)	Assistant Director-General	ADG (I&I)	Yeo Sew Meng
Senior Assistant Director-General (Trade)	Senior Assistant Director-General	SADG (T)	Lee Boon Chong
Assistant Director-General (Ops-Tech & Management)	Assistant Director-General	ADG (OT&M)	Teh Thiam Siong
Chief Human Resource Officer	Assistant Director-General	CHRO	Karen Lim Shu Wen
Chief Information Officer	N.A.	CIO	Charis Yan Oi Yoke

Rank structure

The rank structure of Singapore Customs is as such, in order of descending seniority:

Management Officers
Directors-General		Director-General (DG)
		Deputy Director-General (DDG)
		Senior Assistant Director-General (SADG)
		Assistant Director-General (ADG)
Superintendents		Senior Chief Superintendent of Customs (SCSC)
		Chief Superintendent of Customs (CSC)
		Deputy Chief Superintendent of Customs (DCSC)
		Senior Superintendent of Customs (SSC)
		Higher Superintendent of Customs (HSC)
		Superintendent of Customs (SC)

Officers of Customs
Chief Customs Officers		Principal Chief Customs Officer (PCCO)
		Chief Customs Officer (Special Grade I) [CCO (SG I)]
		Chief Customs Officer (Special Grade II) [CCO (SG II)]
		Chief Customs Officer (CCO)
Customs Officers		Senior Customs Officer (SCO)
		Higher Customs Officer I (HCO I)
		Higher Customs Officer II (HCO II)
		Customs Officer (CO)

References

^ "Highway For Trade - Celebrating 100 years of Singapore Customs" (PDF). Singapore Customs / SPH Magazines. Archived (PDF) from the original on April 28, 2018. Retrieved April 28, 2018.
^ "Singapore Customs". Singapore Customs. Archived from the original on 24 February 2018. Retrieved 28 April 2018.
^ "Singapore Customs operation building relocates to Bulim Drive in Jurong West". The Straits Times. 15 November 2019. Archived from the original on 24 March 2020. Retrieved 24 March 2020.
^ "Singapore Customs Organisational Structure" (PDF). Singapore Customs. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 January 2011. Retrieved 6 January 2011.