Do you need an import licence in Singapore?

1Is there an import licence in Singapore?

Not as a general requirement. People search for an "import licence" because many countries make a business register as an importer before it can bring anything in. Singapore works per shipment instead. Before goods are imported, a customs permit has to be obtained from Singapore Customs, and that permit is what lets the goods be released. Singapore Customs sets this out in its import procedures overview.

So for a sofa, a pallet of packaging, a restock of garments or a crate of machine parts from China, the question is not "do I hold a licence?" but "who lodges the permit, and in whose name?". A licence, or an approval of some kind, comes in only when the goods themselves are controlled: food, health products, cosmetics and a short list of other categories regulated by a government agency. Those are covered further down, with a table.

Singapore Customs defines the importer as the party who brings the goods into Singapore, for its own account or use or for the account or use of another party. The importer is the name on the permit, and the one responsible for what it declares.

2Whose name goes on the import permit

Permits are lodged by a Declaring Agent, a business registered with Singapore Customs to apply for permits on an importer's behalf. Shiplet is a Registered Declaring Agent, under Empirical Marine and Trading Pte. Limited, UEN 202418701E, and lodges every permit for our customers' shipments in-house. What a Registered Declaring Agent does explains the role in more detail.

By default, our own company is the importer on the permit, the Cargo Clearance Permit (CCP), and you pay nothing extra for that. This is what lets an individual furnishing a flat, a sole proprietor or a small company with no customs setup of its own import through us: you do not need to register anything with Singapore Customs, hold a licence or open an account to receive an ordinary shipment. Importing in your own company's name involves registering with Singapore Customs; with us you don't need to unless you want to claim the GST back.

If your company is GST-registered in Singapore and the goods are for the business, you can have your own company named as importer on the CCP instead, so the import GST can be claimed as input tax. We still lodge the declaration. You choose it on the quote form when you book, and it is a priced add-on: S$50 per shipment by air, or by sea LCL S$90 per CBM instead of S$82 plus S$30 per shipment for the permit. The pricing page sets it out, and the GST and customs clearance guide explains when the GST is worth claiming.

3TradeNet and Singapore Customs: where the import permit is lodged

Every import permit in Singapore goes through TradeNet, Singapore Customs' system for permit applications. Singapore Customs sets out the two ways in on its page on obtaining a Customs import permit: appoint a Declaring Agent to apply for you, or apply yourself. Applying yourself means registering for a UEN, activating a Customs account with Singapore Customs, registering as a Declaring Agent and getting a TradeNet user ID, then submitting through approved software or the government's front-end application.

When Shiplet lodges the permit as your Declaring Agent, you need none of that: no TradeNet account, no software and, by default, no Customs account, because our company is the importer on the permit. If you choose your own company as importer to claim the GST, we still lodge the permit through TradeNet; your company needs its UEN and an activated Customs account, as the Customs page explains. The HS code guide covers the code every line of the permit carries.

4When you do need a licence: controlled goods

Singapore Customs keeps a list of controlled and prohibited goods for import. Controlled goods need proper authorisation from a Competent Authority, the government agency responsible for that product, before they may be imported. Depending on the product, the authorisation is an advance notification, a licence or a certificate. Prohibited goods cannot be imported at all, whatever paperwork you hold.

For food and health products, the licence or notification belongs to the importer named on the permit. Tell us what the product is before your supplier ships and we will tell you which agency is involved, whose name the permit should go in and what has to be in place first. Singapore Customs' prohibited list also covers chewing gum (other than approved medicinal and dental products), electronic cigarettes and vaporisers, and chewing tobacco.

To check a product yourself, Singapore Customs runs an HS/CA Product Code Checker, linked from its find my HS code page. Search by description or HS code and it shows whether the item is controlled and by which Competent Authority. Our HS code guide explains what the code is and why every permit carries one.

5Types of import permit, in plain words

Singapore Customs lists the types of import permits in two groups. Which one is lodged depends on what happens to the goods after they arrive, and the Declaring Agent picks it from the shipment's details. You do not need to choose.

• In-payment permits are for goods coming in for use in Singapore, with tax paid at import. One pays GST on goods for local consumption, including goods that are exempt from duty; the other pays duty and GST on dutiable goods. Ordinary freight from China, cleared and delivered to a Singapore address, is in this group.
• In-non-payment permits cover goods that are not paying tax at the point of import: moving goods into licensed warehouses, zero-GST warehouses or a Free Trade Zone, goods exempted for entitled persons, goods brought in for destruction, and temporary consignments.
• Temporary import. Singapore Customs has temporary-consignment permits for goods that come in and leave again: for events, exhibitions, repairs and testing, other general purposes, and for bringing back goods that were exported temporarily. If your goods are not staying in Singapore, tell us when you ask for a quote and we will tell you whether it applies.

Every permit lists each item with its HS code, quantity and value, which is why the documents in the next section matter more than the permit type.

6What an import permit costs with Shiplet

On a Shiplet shipment the import permit and customs clearance are included in the published rates: sea LCL at S$82 per CBM, minimum 1 CBM even if your cargo is smaller, and air from S$6.50 per kg of chargeable weight, minimum 10 kg. Both are all-in freight prices: receiving at the hub, consolidation, freight, the customs declaration, the permit, clearance and delivery to your Singapore address. There is no separate permit fee on a standard shipment. The only permit charge is the S$30 per shipment on sea LCL when you choose your own company as importer.

What sits on top is tax. GST at 9% is charged on the customs value, the CIF value (goods, insurance and freight) plus any duty. An air shipment valued below S$400 is not charged GST; sea freight has no such allowance. Duty applies only to liquor, tobacco, motor vehicles and petroleum products. We pay both at clearance and pass them through at cost, and you settle everything when the cargo reaches Singapore, before we deliver it, by PayNow or bank transfer. Inspection charges, if Singapore Customs selects your shipment, are passed on at cost. The CBM calculator gives the indicative freight from your carton sizes, and the import GST calculator adds the tax.

7What you need to provide

Two documents, the same two the permit is assessed on:

• Commercial invoice. Who sold the goods, a plain description of each item, the quantity, the unit price, the total value and the currency. The customs value is built from it. A Taobao or 1688 order screenshot is accepted as the invoice if it shows those things clearly.
• Packing list. Carton count, dimensions and weights, and what is in each carton. If your shipment has more than five different items, we need a proper packing list rather than screenshots alone.

For controlled goods, add the licence, permit or notification reference you hold as importer. Declare the price actually paid: a lower figure is a false declaration, the importer carries it, and cargo cover is settled at the declared value too.

8Importing through Shiplet, step by step

1. Get an instant quote. Describe the goods, the cartons and the mode on the quote form. The instant quote appears as you type, you get a reference number immediately, and the confirmed quote follows in writing within a few hours. Anything controlled or restricted is flagged at this point.
2. Your supplier delivers to our hub in China: Foshan for sea, the Shenzhen warehouse for air. We check the cartons against the packing list.
3. We lodge the import permit with Singapore Customs as Declaring Agent, in our company's name or yours, and pay the GST and any duty at clearance.
4. You pay on arrival in Singapore, freight plus the tax passed through at cost, by PayNow or bank transfer.
5. We deliver to your Singapore address.

The China to Singapore shipping guide covers the whole route, from choosing sea or air to delivery.