REGISTRATION OF IMPORTS AND EXPORTS (AMENDMENT) RULES, 1961

The Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Finance (Mr Low Por Tuck): Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, on behalf of the Minister for Finance,

That this Assembly, pursuant to subsection (3) of section 5 of the Registration of Imports and Exports Ordinance (Cap. 261), resolves that the Registration of Imports and Exports (Amendment) Rules, 1961, published as Notification No. S 92 in the Gazette Supplement No. 26 dated 14th April, 1961, as contained in Paper S.L. 10 of 1961, be approved.

Sir, the main reasons for amending the Registration of Imports and Exports Rules, 1935, are briefly to regularise certain current practices which have been carried on for some considerable time and in which respect Rules Nos. 4 and 14 are affected, and to extend a concession to the shipping community in respect of which Rule 7 is affected. I shall deal with them one at a time.

Clause 2:

The volume of Government imports is quite considerable and under the existing Rule 14, although the State Government Departments are exempted by the Rule from declaring their imports and exports, in practice they are required by administrative instruction to make declarations to enable the Statistics Department to obtain the desired coverage of merchandise now included in the current publications of the Malayan and Singapore External Trade Statistics. Hence, for the purpose of regularity, Rule 4 (1) is amended by inserting proviso (a) which will give legal effect to the Administrative instruction. Consequently, Rule 14 also requires amendment with which I shall deal later.

Clause 3:

Rule 7 prescribes a time limit of four days for the submission of outward manifests to the Registrar of Imports and Exports. The shipping community has lodged a request that more time be allowed to enable them to meet the amount of clerical work involved in the preparation of the manifests. As a compromise to the request for a new time limit of 10 days, it is proposed to extend the current period of four days to seven days which is considered adequate. Rule 7 is amended to this effect.

Clause 4:

The three amendments to Rule 14 relating to exemptions of declaration for imports and exports will:

(i) regularise the practice whereby trade samples, gifts up to $100 in value and printed shipping and airline documents are currently exempted from the requirement of rendering import and export declarations. This practice, which is considered reasonable and has, in effect, been in existence for some considerable time, is without any legal basis and it is desired to regularise the position;

(ii) closely define personal and household effects of passengers or crews in order to assist in proper checks and to clarify the limitations on "passengers' baggage and personal effects"; and

(iii) no longer exempt the Governments of the State of Singapore and of the Federation of Malaya from the provisions of the Rules. At present the Federation Government is not required to declare its imports and exports, but with the alteration in respect of our own Government it is right that the Federation Government should follow suit in respect of their departmental imports and exports.

Sir, I beg to move.

Question put, and agreed to.

Resolved,

That this Assembly, pursuant to subsection (3) of section 5 of the Registration of Imports and Exports Ordinance (Cap. 261), resolves that the Registration of Imports and Exports (Amendment) Rules, 1961, published as Notification No. S 92 in the Gazette Supplement No. 26 dated 14th April, 1961, as contained in Paper S.L. 10 of 1961, be approved.

8.26 p.m.