Requirements for Freight Forwarding in Singapore

If your business needs to send merchandise through local freight or international freight, you should not negotiate or hire a shipping company or a local logistics company without consulting a freight forwarder in Singapore. You will be able to move cargo easily anywhere in the country or around the world because the freight forwarding company has connections to customs, various logistics services, and transportation agencies.

To understand the complexity of freight forwarding, let’s look at the requirements for importing and exporting in Singapore.

Import Requirements in Singapore

Importation refers to the process of bringing goods from a free trade zone into Singapore. If you hire a freight forwarding services company to handle the documentation of your merchandise, the process of importation becomes much easier because the logistics company understands the Customs Act regulations and has connections to different transportation companies. The freight forwarder can also arrange for the shipping company to transport the goods safely and on time.

As the importer or consignee or receiver of the merchandise, you will be required to complete or submit the following to your freight forwarding company:

• Customs permit, customs account and a Unique Entity Number
• Confirmation that the goods are not within the restrictions
• Inter-bank GIRO for payments and taxes to Singapore Customs
• Goods and Services Tax and Duty are not required if the merchandise remains within a free trade zone or stored in a licensed warehouse, but the importer or shipper is required to pay GST and/or duty if the merchandise will be sold locally
• GST and/or Duty are not required if the merchandise is granted exemption through the Temporary Import Scheme, Major Export Scheme, Approved Import GST Suspension Scheme, and Import GST Deferment Scheme
• Declaration documents for customs clearance such as invoices, permits, endorsements, packing list, Bill of Lading for sea freight or Air Waybill for air freight
• Insurance bond or banker’s or company guarantee of the goods

Export Requirements in Singapore

A fast goods shipping coordinator can also handle the processing of requirements and permits for exportation of goods from Singapore. As the shipper or freight forwarder, it is your responsibility to determine whether the merchandise is allowed for air freight or sea freight; complete and relevant information of the merchandise is provided to the logistics company or the freight forwarding agent; and that the dangerous goods and properly packed, labeled, and classified. The freight forwarder is responsible for looking for the best possible solutions for transportation of the goods.

The following are the requirements for exporting goods from Singapore to a designated country:

• Customs account, customs permit, and a Unique Entity Number
• Confirmation that the goods are subject or not to restrictions under the Competent Authorities in Singapore
• Declaration for Dangerous Goods in case the merchandise is classified as such; this document requires the material or product safety data that will determine the classification of the merchandise
• Containerised cargo for sea freight require documents such as Bill of lading, invoices, permit for cargo lodgement, and packing list
• Conventional cargo for land freight or air freight require Airway Bill, invoices, packing list, permit number for cargo lodgment

GST and duty are not required for export of merchandise from Singapore.