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Supporting made in Singapore |
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Supporting
made in Singapore
With help from Singapore Customs, Siemens
Pte Ltd can now leverage on Singapore’s Free Trade Agreements
to offer overseas customers up to 8% tariff savings on its locally
produced products.
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| Siemens Pte Ltd produces
digital pick and place machines for export to electronics
manufacturers worldwide. |
|
Germany-based Siemens, which has a local production line that
manufactures digital pick and place machines for the printed
circuit board industry, is among numerous companies that have
benefited from Singapore’s network of Free Trade Agreements
(FTAs).
Every year, Siemens Pte Ltd produces a few hundred SIPLACE D-Series
machines for export to electronics manufacturers worldwide.
In 2007, the company approached Singapore Customs to enquire
about applying for the Preferential Certificate of Origin (PCO),
which will enable it to enjoy tariff concessions for its exports.
Senior Trade Officer Garry Pang from Customs’ Documentation
Specialist Branch took the call from Siemens and within a day,
the company with pioneer status was registered with
Singapore Customs.
Benefit
from
Singapore’s FTAs
If your company manufacturers Singapore-made products
which meet stipulated criteria, it can apply for
the Preferential Certificate of Origin to enjoy
tariff concessions on exports. Find out more in
this story.
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Over the course of two months, Mr Pang advised Siemens staff
on how to prepare and submit manufacturing cost statements for
Singapore Customs’ verification. The close communication
with a dedicated Customs’ officer assigned to assist the
company was vital as the paperwork was complicated.
Said Mr Andreas Schmidt, Vice President of Finance and Administration:
“Our products are rather complex as there are a lot of
components involved. We work with a huge supply chain and had
to get data from our suppliers to ensure that we meet the minimum
FTA criterion of 40% local content in order to declare that
our products are made in Singapore when we export to ASEAN,
China and Korea.”
Grateful for the help rendered by Singapore Customs, he said:
“Garry was very helpful and knowledgeable. He patiently
advised us and even offered to bring his team to our factory
to explain details of the FTAs.”
In November 2007, Siemens successfully obtained PCOs for
five FTAs with India, Japan, ASEAN, ASEAN and China, and ASEAN
and Korea. Applications for PCOs to cover subsequent export
consignments are done electronically via TradeNet®
and approved within half a day.
Pleased to benefit from Singapore’s FTAs, Mr Schmidt said
that Siemens has sharpened its competitive edge as a result.
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| Mr Andreas Schmidt,
Vice President of Finance and Administration, and
Mr David Tan, Logistics Manager, appreciate the
help rendered by Singapore Customs. |
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“I think 10% to 20% of our customers in Asia are already
benefiting from the tariff concessions. For example, one Korean
customer managed to save 8% on the total order value, an advantage
that Siemens is pleased to offer,” said Mr Schmidt.
“Savings for our customers translate into benefit for
us because they increase our competitiveness in the market.
For Siemens, it takes about one year of productivity improvements
to enhance the price performance of our machines by 8%. With
the FTAs, we achieved it in two months.”
He is hopeful that the tariff exemptions will generate more
business in the near future. Looking forward to increasing sales
and export revenue, he said: “We have informed our sales
team so that they will highlight the benefit to customers. We
hope customers will take the savings into account when making
their buying decision.”
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| Copyright © 2008
Singapore Customs. All Rights Reserved. |
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