How to apply for permits? 

• Select by Message and Declaration Types
• Generally defined by Movement of Goods
• Check whether payment of GST and/or Duty is involved

Message and Declaration Types

The various message and declaration types are defined as follows:

IN-PAYMENT

Message Type	Declaration Type	Code
IN- PAYMENT	GST (including exemption)	GST
	DUTY	DUT
	DUTY AND GST	DNG
	BLANKET (including blanket GST payment and duty exemption)	BKT

IN NON PAYMENT

 OUT

TRANSHIPMENT / MOVEMENT

 CO
 

Important Notes

The import, export and/or transhipment of certain goods are subject to the control of relevant Competent Authorities (CA). You have to categorise and prepare separate permit applications as follows:

•In general, you may submit in the same application:

• controlled and non-controlled items
• controlled dutiable and non-controlled/non-dutiable items
• dutiable and non-dutiable items 

•For controlled items, you are required to submit separate applications:

• for goods controlled by different Competent Authority (CAs)
• if the countries of origin of the goods are different, based on CAs' requirements eg: AVA 

You can declare up to a maximum of 50 items per permit application. You must, however, transmit separate permit applications for the following types of goods:

1. different Countries of Final Destination (Export) within the same consignment
2. different Countries of Origin (Import) within the same consignment if goods are controlled by AVA
3. used personal effects and commercial goods within the same consignment
4. you must submit one permit application for every Ocean Bill of Lading (OBL) or Master Air Waybill (MAWB) for conventional cargo
5. you should submit one permit application for each importer or exporter in a vehicle or train for road and rail cargo

*You will incur unnecessary charges if you send your permit applications incorrectly.

Reasons for Documentation

1. to enable carrier's agents to deliver/receive the goods
2. to facilitate identification and clearance of the goods
3. to enforce health, safety or other regulatory requirements
4. to compile external trade statistics

Before Submissions

You will be responsible for transmitting the electronic permit applications with full and correct particulars to the Authority(s). You must check to make sure that all the particulars in the permit application are complete and accurate before submitting the application through the TradeNet® System for processing.

*If you fail to declare any of the particulars fully and accurately, it may lead to queries, penalties and delays in the clearance of your goods.

Unique Reference Number

The unique reference number assigned to a permit application serves to identify a particular application. The unique reference number consists of 3 data elements. They are your Entity Identifier, the date of submission and the Sequence Number.

Prior to the approval of the permit application, you have to quote this unique reference number in all subsequent references of this application.

If supporting documents are required to support your application, you have to quote this number in all the documents when you submit them to the Authority(s). Likewise, the authorities will use this unique reference number when they reply to your permit application.

You should respond to the authorities' requests immediately. Any delay will hold up the processing of your application.

Correct Submission

Upon approval by the Singapore Customs / Competent Authority(s), the permit application is issued with a Permit number.

You can use both the Permit number and the Unique Reference Number in all your subsequent correspondences with the authorities.

When you transmit a permit application to the Competent Authority(s) for processing, the System will create a record in the declaration enquiry system. You may enquire the outcome of your submission, whether or not the application is approved, pending processing or rejected.

The records of Non-Payment and Payment permits will be retained for 6 months and 1 year, respectively. This will enable you to make on-line enquiries on the Permits during that period.

Cargo Clearance Permit (CCP)

After approval, the Permit message is transmitted to you to enable you to print the Cargo Clearance Permit (CCP). An example of the format of a CCP is in Annex A1.

Usage of the Cargo Clearance Permit (CCP)

Copies of CCP are required for the following purposes:

a) For Import and Export 

i) to clear the goods at the Check-point;

ii) to exchange for a Delivery Order (for imports by sea) or BL (for exports by sea) - photocopy; For imports by air, to produce the CCP to the airline agent for the Delivery Order / submit the permit details through the Air Cargo EDI System to the airline agent. For exports by air, produce the CCP to the airline agent at the time of lodgement of cargo/submit the permit details through the Air Cargo EDI System to the airline agent.

iii) upon request, the trader will return it to the Singapore Customs within 48 hours together with the supporting documents such as invoices, Bills of Lading and Air Waybill.

b) For Transhipment

i) to clear the goods at the Check-point - original/ photocopy;

ii) to submit to the Inward shipping agent - photocopy;

iii) to submit to the Outward shipping agent - photocopy;

All valid CCPs must be submitted to the shipping agents within 10 days of a vessel's arrival and 7 days for departure of the vessel. For air consignments, valid import, export and transhipment permit information must be submitted through the Air Cargo EDI System to the airline agents within 10 days of the aircraft's arrival and 7 days of departure of the aircraft.

Shipping agents and Airline agents will submit the Manifest Reconciliation Statements/Cargo Manifest Declarations after matching to the Singapore Customs within the specified period.

Wrong Submission

The authorities will inform you of the wrong submission with a rejection message as follows :

You need to meet the necessary requirements of the authorities or make the necessary amendments and re-submit it as a new application.

Electronic Amendment and Cancellations of Permits

Cancellations

You should request for cancellation of the permit if there are erroneous data in the Permit and these erroneous fields are non-amendable. You should submit another application with the correct data.

In general, if a CCP is unutilised (ie. not used for the exchange of the Delivery Order or BL or clearance) or where the amendment is not allowed, you must inform the Singapore Customs and cancel it as soon as possible. All cancellations of unused CCPs must be within a day of its expiry.

All requests for cancellation of must be sent electronically through the TradeNet® system. The reason for cancellation of the CCP must be given. Please see Annex D for the list of reasons for cancellation codes.

Cancellation of a conditional CCP should be sent electronically to the Singapore Customs within 48 hours from the date of approval. Any request for cancellation after 48 hours will only be allowed after you have submitted your CCP and the supporting documents for our checking.

You cannot use any CCP that is cancelled for importing, exporting or transhipping of goods.

Amendments

Amendments of certain fields for approved permits may be allowed under certain circumstances. You should, however, amend the details in the permit before you use the Permit to exchange it for the Delivery Order or the Bill of Lading or for clearance of cargo.

Except for OUT permits issued with Certificate of Origin, amendments to IN, OUT and TRANSHIPMENT CCPs are allowed through the TradeNet® System.  

The fields that are not allowed for amendment are at Annex B.  A sample copy of an amended CCP is at Annex A2.

*The applicant requesting for the cancellation and amendment of the Cargo Clearance Permit (CCP) must be an authorised person. There are no limits to the number of amendments allowed for each CCP.

Application and activation of Unique Entity Number (UEN [previously known as Central Registration (CR) Number]

The UEN is issued by the issuance agency. For more information, please visit the UEN website.

Upon getting a UEN, you will need to activate your UEN in order to transact with Singapore Customs. Your application will be sent to Singapore Customs for processing. If you wish to receive either an email or fax notification on the status of your application, please furnish an email address or fax number in the application form.

After one working day from the date of issue, you will be able to use the UEN to submit permit applications and other documents through TradeNet®.

Collection of Processing Fee

The Permit application processing fee will be collected once a week through the Inter-bank Giro (IBG) System. You must ensure that there are sufficient funds in your account to meet the payment.

For accounts with insufficient funds, you must make sure that the funds are made available within a specified time and inform the CrimsonLogic Pte Ltd accordingly. If not, you will not be allowed to access the System for any transactions after the specified time.

In Summary

You should :

1. Complete the IN / OUT / TRANSHIPMENT permit applications fully and accurately.

2. Promptly submit the permit applications to the Singapore Customs mailbox.

3. Retrieve the permit applications after approval by the Singapore Customs from the TradeNet® System.

4. Print out the CCP and photocopy 2 copies of the Import / Export or 3 copies of the Transhipment CCP.

5. Take delivery of the goods for import:

• for sea consignment, exchange the CCP for a Delivery Order from the shipping agent.
• for air consignment, produce the CCP to the airline agent for the Delivery Order / submit the permit details through the Air Cargo EDI System to the airline agent.
• for road and rail consignment, hand the CCP at Woodlands/ Tuas and Malayan Railway Checkpoint respectively.
• in all cases, the CCP must be shown at the Checkpoint / gate when removing goods from the controlled area.

6. Take the following actions for export:

• for sea consignments, exchange the CCP for the Bill of Lading from the shipping agent
• for air consignments, produce the CCP to the airline agent at the time of lodgement of cargo/submit the permit details through the Air Cargo EDI System to the airline agents.
• for road and rail consignment, hand the CCP at Woodlands/Tuas and Malayan Railway Checkpoint respectively.

7. Not attempt to modify the transaction log of the certified software installed by your vendor.

All valid CCPs must be submitted to the shipping agents within 10 days of a vessel's arrival and 7 days for departure of the vessel. For air consignments, valid import, export and transhipment permits information must be submitted through the Air Cargo EDI System to the airline agents within 10 days of aircraft's arrival and 7 days of departure of the aircraft.

Payments will be deducted through IBG for all submissions.

Further Information

If you need further clarification or information on the procedures, please contact:

Singapore Customs Help Desk
55 Newton Road
#07-02 Revenue House
Singapore 307987
Tel No.: 63552000