Postal Services Regulations 2008

is posted outside Singapore and addressed to an addressee at an address in Singapore; and

for any reason cannot be delivered by the postal administration for Singapore.

the postal article is an unregistered printed packet (not being a printed packet containing books) and no request for its return to the sender appears thereon; or

the postal article consists of a postcard without the sender’s address.

in the case of an air mail letter or air mail postcard, be returned to its origin by the postal administration for Singapore by the quickest route (air or surface); and

in any other case where return by air mail is desired, be returned to its origin by the postal administration for Singapore by air, subject to payment by the sender of the surcharges appropriate to the air conveyance.

is posted inside Singapore and addressed to an addressee at an address outside Singapore; and

for any reason cannot be delivered by the foreign postal administration.

if practicable, it shall be redirected and forwarded to the addressee; or

if it cannot be redirected and forwarded to the addressee, it shall, if the name and address of the sender appears on the outside, or can be ascertained by an employee authorised by the postal administration for Singapore to open such articles and bound to secrecy, be returned to the sender on payment of any charges due.

the postal article is an unregistered printed packet (not being a printed packet containing books) and no request for its return to the sender appears thereon; or

the postal article consists of a postcard without the sender’s address.

the postage paid on that postal article is equal to or less than the postage which would have been payable on a postcard posted in Singapore and addressed to an addressee in Singapore, the sender of the undelivered postal article shall be charged with a second postage fee equal in amount to the postage originally chargeable, less the amount of any postage prepaid by the sender; or

the postage paid on that postal article is greater than the postage which would have been payable on a postcard posted in Singapore and addressed to an addressee in Singapore, the undelivered postal article shall be returned to the sender free of charge.

any such undelivered and unregistered postal article may be destroyed; and

any undelivered and registered postal article, and any insured letter, with their contents shall be retained by the postal administration for Singapore for a period of one year, reckoned from and including the date the postal administration for Singapore cannot dispose of the article under regulation 12 or 13, and may be destroyed or otherwise disposed of in accordance with this regulation if not claimed within that period.

pay all moneys contained therein into the funds of the postal administration for Singapore for the benefit of any person entitled thereto; or

sell such saleable property contained in the unclaimed and undelivered postal article by public auction or otherwise dispose of the property in any manner as it thinks fit, and the proceeds of the sale or disposal shall be paid into the funds of the postal administration for Singapore for the benefit of any person entitled thereto, after deducting any expenses incurred in carrying out the sale or disposal.

send by post, tender for posting or deliver to a postal licensee for posting; or

convey, despatch or deliver by post,any article specified in paragraph (2) (referred to in these Regulations as a prohibited article).

any article consisting of or containing —

any arms, explosives or explosive precursors within the meaning of the Arms and Explosives Act (Cap. 13), or any truncheon, handcuffs, or such other weapon or equipment referred to in section 18 of the Private Investigation and Security Agencies Act (Cap. 249) or section 22A of the Miscellaneous Offences (Public Order and Nuisance) Act (Cap. 184);

any biological agent specified in the First Schedule or Second Schedule to the Biological Agents and Toxins Act (Cap. 24A) or any toxin specified in the Fifth Schedule to that Act, except as authorised by that Act;

any chemical weapon or scheduled chemical within the meaning of the Chemical Weapons (Prohibition) Act (Cap. 37B) or any radioactive material or irradiating apparatus within the meaning of the Radiation Protection Act (Cap. 262);

any corrosive substance or explosive substance or any offensive weapon or scheduled weapon within the meaning of the Corrosive and Explosive Substances and Offensive Weapons Act (Cap. 65);

any hazardous substance within the meaning of the Environmental Protection and Management Act (Cap. 94A);

any petroleum or flammable material within the meaning of Part VI of the Fire Safety Act (Cap.109A);

any controlled drug, or any controlled equipment, controlled material or controlled substance, within the meaning of the Misuse of Drugs Act (Cap. 185), except as authorised by that Act;

any poison, including any preparation, solutions, compound, mixture or natural substance containing poisonous substances unless sent in accordance with the provisions of the Poisons Act (Cap. 234);

any goods the import or export of which is prohibited under the Regulation of Imports and Exports Act (Cap. 272A);

any chewing gum, which is prohibited from being sold or advertised for sale under the Sale of Food (Prohibition of Chewing Gum) Regulations (Cap. 283, Rg 2);

any other dangerous article or substance that is capable of posing a significant risk to health, safety or property when transported by air;

any securities of any kind payable to bearer, bank notes, currency notes or travellers’ cheques, unless sent by registered or insured post;

any lottery ticket or any advertisement of prizes or any other announcement relating to any public lottery, sweepstake or other gambling transaction;

any pamphlet, magazine, newsletter or other type of publication which is prohibited under any written law from being published, circulated or distributed in Singapore; (b)any article liable to customs duty —

not sent by parcel post, or enclosed in a letter packet or small packet for delivery in a country or place which admits such parcels or packets; and

in the case of letter packets and small packets, not posted in compliance with regulation 6; or

any article which by the laws of the country or place in which the article is posted or to which the article is addressed (being a country or place outside Singapore), it is unlawful to send by post.

a person may send by post, tender for posting or deliver for posting any prohibited article to any holder of a class licence; and

any holder of a class licence may convey, despatch or deliver by post, any prohibited article that is packed in accordance with such terms and conditions as are determined by the holder of that class licence.

sent by post, tendered for posting or delivered to a postal licensee for posting; or

conveyed, despatched or delivered by post,if, and only if the postal article is packed in accordance with such terms and conditions as are —

determined by the postal licensee conveying, despatching or delivering the postal article; and

approved by the Postal Authority.

celluloid and cinematograph films;

radioactive substances; and

perishable biological substances exchanged between officially recognised or qualified laboratories.

the postal licensee or the employee or agent thereof (as the case may be) took all reasonable and practicable steps to prevent the contravention of regulation 3(1), or there were no steps that he could reasonably be expected to have taken to prevent the contravention; and

the postal licensee or the employee or agent thereof (as the case may be) neither knew, nor could reasonably have been expected to have known, that he was conveying, despatching or delivering by post any prohibited article.

is posted outside Singapore by or on behalf of a person residing in Singapore; and

is addressed to the addressee at an address in Singapore.

discovers a postal article to which this regulation applies in the course of post, and the sum equivalent in Singapore currency at par to the postage paid on the postal article is less than the postage which would have been payable on such a postal article if it had been posted in Singapore; and

has reasonable cause to believe that the postal article was posted with a view to benefiting from rates of postage,the postal administration for Singapore may cause the postal article to be opened and examined by its employee to determine whether the postal article was so posted.

discovers a postal article to which this regulation applies in the course of post, and the sum equivalent in Singapore currency at par to the postage paid on the postal article is less than the postage which would have been payable on such a postal article if it had been posted in Singapore; and

is satisfied that the postal article was so posted with a view to benefiting from rates of postage,the postal administration for Singapore may —

claim the postage which would have been payable on such postal article if it had been posted in Singapore from —

the person from whom such postal article purports to come or by whom or on whose behalf it purports to have been sent (referred to in this regulation as the sender); or

the foreign postal administration for the place at which such postal article was posted if the postal administration for Singapore is unable to recover the postage from the sender; or

if both the sender and the foreign postal administration concerned do not pay the postage which would have been payable on the postal article if it had been posted in Singapore —

return the postal article to the country in which it was posted upon payment of the redirection cost by the sender or the foreign postal administration concerned; or

dispose of the postal article under regulation 14 as if the postal article were an undelivered postal article to which regulation 12 or 13 applies.

up to a weight of 5 kilogrammes; or

up to a weight of 10 kilogrammes in the case of —

postal articles whose contents cannot be split up; or (ii)postal articles addressed to a camp or the prisoners’ representatives at a camp ("hommes de confiance") for distribution to the prisoners.

papers of any kind, periodicals and books, impressed in Braille or other special type for the use of the blind, including letters in writing used by the blind posted unsealed;

plates bearing the characters of writing used by the blind; and

sound records and the special paper intended solely for the use of the blind if sent by or addressed to an officially recognised institute for the blind.