Customs Act 1960 · 2020 Revised Edition · Part 6 · Warehousing
51. Licensed warehouses
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The Director‑General may, in his or her discretion, on payment of such fees as may be prescribed, grant a licence to any person (called in this section the licensee) and when granted suspend or withdraw any licence for warehousing goods liable to duty in a place or places specified in that licence.
Director‑General
“Director‑General” means the Director‑General of Customs appointed under section 4(1);
Any such licence is for such period and subject to such conditions as the Director‑General may in each case specify in the licence.
A senior officer of customs, or any officer of customs deputed by a senior officer of customs for the purpose, has at all times access to any licensed warehouse.
senior officer of customs
“senior officer of customs” means —(a)the Director‑General;(b)any Deputy Director‑General of Customs or Assistant Director‑General of Customs appointed under section 4(2);(c)any senior officer of customs appointed under section 4(4);(d)any officer of customs conferred with the powers of a senior officer of customs under section 5(3); and(e)any police officer having the powers of a senior officer of customs by virtue of section 7(a);
If it appears at any time that in any licensed warehouse there is a deficiency in the quantity of dutiable goods which ought to be found therein, the licensee of the warehouse is —
licensed warehouse
“licensed warehouse” means a warehouse or other place licensed or deemed to be licensed under section 51(1), 63(1), or 83(4) (if the licence granted under section 83(3) covers an activity for which a licence under section 51(1), 63(1) or 66(1) is required);
in the absence of proof to the contrary, presumed to have illegally removed the goods; and
without affecting any proceedings under this Act, liable to pay immediately to the proper officer of customs the duty leviable on the goods found deficient.
If, it is shown to the Director‑General’s satisfaction that the deficiency has been caused by theft or by unavoidable leakage, breakage or other accident, or by evaporation, the Director‑General may remit the whole or any part of the duty leviable on the goods found deficient.
goods
“goods” includes animals, birds, fish, plants and all kinds of movable property;
The licensee of a licensed warehouse must remove all dutiable goods from the warehouse before —
dutiable goods
“dutiable goods” means any goods subject to the payment of customs duty or excise duty on entry into customs territory or manufactured in Singapore (including any free trade zone) and on which customs duty or excise duty has not been paid and includes goods manufactured in a free trade zone from materials of a class dutiable on entry into customs territory for consumption within the customs territory;
the expiry of the period of the licence; or
if the Director‑General serves on the licensee a notice of withdrawal of the licence, the date of withdrawal specified in the notice.
A licensee who, without reasonable excuse, fails to comply with subsection (6) shall be guilty of an offence.
If a licensee fails to comply with subsection (6), the Director‑General may do all or any of the following:
remove all dutiable goods from the warehouse;
store the dutiable goods in a Government warehouse or licensed warehouse;
forfeit the dutiable goods after one month from the date of the expiry or withdrawal (as the case may be) of the licence;
dispose of all dutiable goods forfeited under paragraph (c) in accordance with this Act.
Any costs incurred by the Director‑General pursuant to subsection (8) are recoverable by the Director‑General from the licensee as a debt due to the Government.
To avoid doubt, subsection (6) does not affect the operation of sections 27 and 59.