States of Malaya Customs Duties Collection Act 1958

“aircraft” includes any kind of craft which may be used for the conveyance of passengers or goods by air;

“collection station” means a station or other place established by the President under section 8;

“Collector” means any officer appointed by the President to be the Collector of Federal Customs Duties under section 3(1);

“customs duty” means any import duty, export duty, surtax or cess imposed by or under the Customs Act 1967 (M. 235 (1980)) of Malaysia or any other written law in force in Malaysia and includes any royalty payable in lieu of an export duty under any written law or a contract, lease or agreement to which the government of Malaysia or of any State within Malaysia is a party or to which such government has consented;

“dutiable goods” means all goods which are subject to the payment of customs duty on import into or export from Malaysia and on which such duty has not yet been paid;

“export”, with its grammatical variations and cognate expressions, means to take or cause to be taken out of Malaysia by land or air, otherwise than by post;

“exporter” includes any owner or other person for the time being beneficially interested in any goods at the time at which such goods enter Singapore from Malaysia by land or air;

“Federal Customs Officer” means any officer whose appointment is approved under section 5;

“Federal officer of customs” means —

“Federal Superintendent of Customs and Excise” means any officer appointed by the President under section 3(2);

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

“import”, with its grammatical variations and cognate expressions, means to take or cause to be taken into Malaysia by land, air or post;

“importer” includes any person, company, firm, society or other body of persons in Malaysia to whom, or to which, goods are consigned by land, air or post;

“other charges” includes warehouse rent, weighing fees, handling charges and overtime fees, and any other moneys payable under the provisions of this Act or any regulations made thereunder, except customs duty;

“passenger” means a person travelling by railway or aircraft from Singapore to Malaysia or vice versa;

“prohibited goods” means goods the import of which into or the export of which from Malaysia is prohibited either absolutely or conditionally by any written law for the time being in force in Malaysia;

“railway” has the same meaning as in the Railways Act 1905;

“value”, in relation to goods declared for import, means the price which an importer would give at the time of declaration for import for the goods on a purchase in the open market if the goods were delivered to him at the place of payment of customs duty and if freight, insurance, commission and all other costs, charges and expenses (except any customs duty) incidental to the purchase and delivery at such place had been paid.

The President may, on the nomination of the Yang di‑Pertuan Agong, by notification in the Gazette, appoint an officer to be the Collector of Federal Customs Duties who shall be in charge of all collection stations and have the superintendence of all matters relating thereto.

The President may, on the nomination of the Yang di‑Pertuan Agong, by notification in the Gazette, appoint so many officers as he may consider necessary to be Federal Superintendents of Customs and Excise for the purpose of this Act.

Every Federal officer of customs when acting against any person under this Act shall, if not in uniform, on demand declare his office and produce to the person against whom he is acting such authority card as the Collector may direct to be carried by that officer.

It shall not be an offence for any person to refuse to comply with any request, demand or order made by any Federal officer of customs acting or purporting to act under this Act if that officer is not in uniform and refuses to declare his office and produce his authority card, on demand being made by that person.

The President may, in accordance with a request of the Yang di‑Pertuan Agong, establish collection stations in order to facilitate —

A Federal officer of customs may collect at any collection station the customs duty and other charges due to the government of Malaysia on the import or export of goods and all moneys so collected shall be paid into the general revenue of Malaysia.

For the purpose of ascertaining the customs duty, if any, leviable thereon, any Federal officer of customs may value, weigh, measure, or otherwise examine, or cause to be valued, weighed, measured or otherwise examined any goods or passengers’ baggage delivered to a collection station.

When a valuation of any goods has been made by a Federal officer of customs, the valuation shall be presumed to be correct until the contrary is proved.

Whenever —

When any goods have been detained in accordance with subsection (1), the Collector may after giving not less than 14 days’ notice in writing to the owner (if the name and address of the owner are known to him), or after giving not less than 14 days’ notice in the Gazette (if the name and address of the owner are not known to him) sell the goods.

The proceeds of the sale of any such goods shall be applied to the payment of the charges that have been occasioned by the sale and of the customs duty and other charges leviable in accordance with subsection (1), and the surplus, if any, shall be paid to the owner of such goods, and if the owner cannot be found within one month of the sale, the surplus shall be paid to the general revenue of Malaysia.

If at the sale of any such goods no sufficient bid is forthcoming to satisfy the customs duty and charges which are due in respect of the goods, the goods shall be forfeited to the government of Malaysia and shall be disposed of in such manner as the Collector may direct.

Subject to this Act, goods to be imported into Malaysia through a collection station shall not be loaded for despatch at or through the collection station until the importer or the consignor has, personally or by his agent —

Every passenger shall at a collection station or at any point between the Malayan Railway Station at Keppel Road, Singapore and the limits of Singapore declare to a Federal officer of customs all dutiable or prohibited goods in his possession, either on his person or in any baggage and shall pay any import duty leviable thereon.

Whenever goods are exported through a collection station, the exporter or the consignee thereof shall make, personally or by his agent, to a Federal officer of customs at the collection station a declaration in the prescribed form, giving particulars of the goods exported, and shall pay to the Federal officer of customs any export duty and other charges leviable on the goods:Provided that such declaration shall not be required in respect of any goods on which it is shown to the satisfaction of a Federal officer of customs that export duty has been paid at a customs station in Malaysia prior to the export of the goods.

A Federal officer of customs may refuse delivery of any goods exported through a collection station until the export duty and other charges leviable on the goods have been paid.

If the export duty payable in respect of such goods is not paid within 3 months from the time when possession of them was taken by a Federal officer of customs, the goods shall be sold by public auction, and the proceeds of the sale thereof shall be applied in payment of the charges that have been occasioned by the sale and of the export duty and other charges leviable in accordance with subsection (1), and the surplus thereof, if any, shall be paid to the owner of the goods, and if the owner cannot be found within one month of the sale, the surplus shall be paid to the general revenue of Malaysia.

Particulars of any intended sale shall be published in the Gazette not less than 14 days prior to the date of the sale.

If at the sale of any such goods no sufficient bid is forthcoming to defray the export duty and charges which are due in respect of the goods, the goods shall be forfeited to the government of Malaysia and shall be disposed of in such manner as the Collector may direct.

No person shall act as agent for transacting business relating to the import or export through a collection station of any goods except with the permission of the Collector.

When any person applies to the Collector for permission to act as agent on behalf of another person, the Collector may require the applicant to produce a written authority from the person on whose behalf he is to act and in default of that authority the Collector may refuse such permission.

Before granting such permission, the Collector may require the agent to give such security as he may consider adequate for the faithful and incorrupt conduct of the agent and of his clerks acting for him both as regards the customs and his employers.

The Collector may suspend or cancel any permission granted under this section, if the agent commits any breach of this Act or of any regulations made thereunder or if he fails to comply with any direction given by a Federal officer of customs with regard to the business transacted by the agent.

Any person who acts as agent when permission has not been granted to him under this section or while such permission is cancelled or suspended, or who makes or causes to be made a declaration of any goods without being duly authorised for that purpose by the importer or exporter or consignor or consignee of the goods shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $500.

The clerk or employee of any person or firm may transact business generally at any collection station on behalf of that person or firm:Provided that the Collector may refuse to transact business with such clerk or employee unless the person or a member of the firm identifies the clerk or employee to the Collector as empowered to transact the business and deposits with the Collector a signed authority authorising the clerk or employee to transact such business on behalf of that person or firm.

All postal articles consigned to Malaysia, whether posted within Singapore or elsewhere, may by arrangement with a duly authorised officer of a public postal licensee, be examined while in the custody of the public postal licensee by any Federal officer of customs, and may be opened by an officer of that public postal licensee in the presence of a Federal officer of customs for the purpose of such examination.

In this section, “public postal licensee” has the meaning given by the Postal Services Act 1999.

Any postal article consigned to Malaysia found upon examination to contain dutiable goods, that postal article not having affixed thereto a true declaration of such goods, shall be liable to forfeiture by order of the Collector.

A Federal Superintendent of Customs and Excise may compound the offence by accepting from the addressee or consignor of any postal article liable to forfeiture under subsection (1) a sum not exceeding $500 and shall thereupon release that article on payment of the customs duty due thereon.

A Federal officer of customs may at any time, if his duty so requires, take samples of any goods in a collection station in order to ascertain whether they are goods of a description liable to customs duty, or to ascertain the customs duty payable on such goods or for such other purpose as a Federal Superintendent of Customs and Excise may think necessary for the purpose of this Act.

No payment shall be made for the cost of any sample taken, but the Federal officer of customs shall, on demand, give a receipt for any such sample.

Any sample taken in accordance with subsection (1) shall be disposed of in such manner as the Collector shall direct.

When any goods have been deposited in a collection station for a period exceeding 4 days reckoned from the date of deposit, the Collector may remove them to such place as he may in his discretion think fit and the Collector shall have a lien on the goods for any expenses incurred.

If any goods are not cleared —

The proceeds of the sale of any such goods shall be applied to the payment of the charges that have been occasioned by the sale and of any customs duty and other charges which may be due in respect of the goods or any other goods deposited in a collection station by or on behalf of the consignor of the goods, and the surplus, if any, shall be paid to the owner of the goods, and if the owner cannot be found within one month of the sale, the surplus shall be paid into the general revenue of Malaysia.

If at the sale of any such goods no sufficient bid is forthcoming to defray the customs duty and charges which are due in respect of the goods, the goods shall be forfeited to the government of Malaysia and shall be disposed of in such manner as the Collector may direct.

For the purposes of carrying out the provisions of section 9, a Federal officer of customs may, within the limits of a collection station —

The owner, importer, exporter, consignor, consignee or other person for the time being in charge of any goods shall be permitted to be present at any examination of the goods carried out under this section.

If a Federal officer of customs has in the exercise of his powers under this section stopped the loading or unloading of any goods exported from or intended to be imported into Malaysia, the loading or unloading shall not be resumed without his permission.

All goods in respect of which any Federal officer of customs reasonably suspects that any offence has been or is being committed under this Act or any regulations made thereunder, together with any receptacle, package or conveyance in which the goods have been found or which has been used in connection with the offence, and any books or documents which a Federal officer of customs reasonably believes to have a bearing on the case, may be seized by any Federal officer of customs.

All such goods and all such receptacles, packages, conveyances, books and documents shall, as soon as conveniently may be, be delivered into the care of a Federal Superintendent of Customs and Excise.

Whenever any goods, conveyances, books or documents are seized under this Act, the seizing officer shall forthwith give notice in writing of the seizure and the grounds thereof to the owner of such goods, if known, either by delivering the notice to him personally, or by post at any address given by him:Provided that such notice shall not be required to be given where the seizure is made on the person, or in the presence of the offender or the owner or his agent, as the case may be.

The provisions of this section relating to the seizure of goods shall apply to all the contents of any package or receptacle in which the goods are found and to any conveyance or article used to conceal the goods.

Any goods of a perishable nature seized under this section may be sold forthwith on the orders of a Federal Superintendent of Customs and Excise and the proceeds of sale held to abide the result of any prosecution or claim.

In any prosecution for a breach of a provision of this Act or of any regulations made thereunder, a certificate of analysis purporting to be under the hand of an analyst shall, on production thereof by the prosecutor, be sufficient evidence of the facts stated therein unless the defendant requires that the analyst be called as a witness, in which case he shall give notice thereof to the prosecutor not less than 7 clear days before the commencement of the inquiry, trial or other proceeding.

In like manner a certificate of analysis purporting to be under the hand of an analyst shall, on production thereof by the defendant, be sufficient evidence of the facts stated therein, unless the prosecutor requires that the analyst be called as a witness.

A copy of the certificate referred to in subsection (2) shall be sent to the prosecutor at least 7 clear days before the commencement of the inquiry, trial or other proceeding, and if it is not so sent the court may adjourn the hearing on such terms as it may think proper.

Analysts are by this Act bound to state the truth in certificates of analysis under their hands.

If an analyst is called as a witness by the defendant as provided by subsection (1), he shall be called at the expense of the defendant unless the court otherwise directs.

In this section, “analyst” means a person employed as a chemist by the Government either of Singapore or of Malaysia.

Except as hereinafter provided, no witness in any civil or criminal proceeding shall be obliged or permitted to disclose the name or address of an informer or the substance of the information received from him or state any matter which might lead to his discovery.

If any books, documents or papers which are in evidence or liable to inspection in any civil or criminal proceeding whatsoever contain any entry in which any informer is named or described or which might lead to his discovery, the court shall cause all such passages to be concealed from view or to be obliterated so far only as may be necessary to protect the informer from discovery.

If on the trial for any offence under this Act or any regulations made thereunder the court after full inquiry into the case believes that the informer wilfully made in his complaint a material statement which he knew or believed to be false or did not believe to be true, or if in any other proceeding the court is of opinion that justice cannot be fully done between the parties thereto without the discovery of the informer, it shall be lawful for the court to require the production of the original complaint, if in writing, and permit inquiry, and require full disclosure, concerning the informer.

An order for the forfeiture or for the release of anything liable to forfeiture under the provisions of this Act shall be made by the court before which the prosecution with regard thereto has been held, and an order for the forfeiture of goods shall be made if it is proved to the satisfaction of the court that an offence under this Act or any regulations made thereunder has been committed and that the goods were the subject matter, or were used in the commission, of the offence notwithstanding that no person may have been convicted of the offence.

All goods forfeited under subsection (1) shall be ordered to be delivered into the custody of the Collector.

If such goods are sold, the proceeds of the sale shall be paid into the general revenue of Malaysia.

If there is no prosecution with regard to any goods seized under this Act, such goods shall be taken and deemed to be forfeited at the expiration of one calendar month from the date of seizure unless a claim thereto is made before that date in the manner hereinafter set forth.

Any person asserting that he is the owner of such goods may personally or by his agent authorised in writing give written notice to the Collector that he claims the goods.

On receipt of such notice the Collector may direct that the goods be released or may, by information in the prescribed form, refer the matter to a District Judge or to a Magistrate for his decision.

The District Judge or the Magistrate shall issue a summons requiring the person asserting that he is the owner of the goods and the person from whom they were seized to appear before him, and upon their appearance or default to appear, due service of the summons being proved, the District Judge or the Magistrate shall proceed to the examination of the matter and on proof that an offence under this Act has been committed and that such goods were the subject matter, or were used in the commission, of such offence shall order the goods to be forfeited, or may in the absence of such proof order their release.

In any proceedings under subsection (4), section 33 shall apply to the person asserting that he is the owner of the goods and to the person from whom they were seized as if such owner or person had been the defendant in a prosecution under this Act.

Any Federal Superintendent of Customs and Excise may compound any offence, which is prescribed to be a compoundable offence, by accepting from the person reasonably suspected of having committed the offence a sum not exceeding $500.

In like manner any Federal Customs Officer may compound any offence, which is prescribed to be compoundable by that officer, by accepting from the person reasonably suspected of having committed the offence a sum not exceeding $20.

On the payment of such sum the person reasonably suspected of having committed the offence, if in custody shall be discharged, any property seized shall be released and no further proceedings shall be taken against that person or property.

If any Federal officer of customs or other person duly employed for the prevention of offences under this Act —

Any Federal officer of customs who is found when on duty to have in his possession any money in contravention of any departmental regulations issued in writing shall be presumed, until the contrary is proved, to have received the money in contravention of subsection (1)(b).

If a Federal officer of customs has reasonable suspicion that another Federal officer of customs junior in rank to him has in his possession any money received in contravention of subsection (1)(b), he may search that other officer.

Where an offence under this Act or any regulations made thereunder has been committed by a company, firm, society or other body of persons, any person who at the time of the commission of the offence was a director, manager, secretary or other similar officer or a partner of the company, firm, society or other body of persons or was purporting to act in such capacity shall be deemed to be guilty of that offence unless he proves that the offence was committed without his consent or connivance and that he exercised all such diligence to prevent the commission of the offence as he ought to have exercised, having regard to the nature of his function in that capacity and to all the circumstances.

Where any person would be liable under this Act to any punishment, penalty or forfeiture for any act, omission, neglect or default, he shall be liable to the same punishment, penalty or forfeiture for every such act, omission, neglect or default of any clerk, employee or agent, or of the clerk or employee of such agent where such act, omission, neglect or default was committed by that clerk or employee in the course of his employment or by that agent when acting on behalf of that person or by the clerk or employee of that agent when acting in the course of his employment in such circumstances that had the act, omission, neglect or default been committed by the agent his principal would have been liable under this section.