The garments were from China but the labels indicated they originated from Malaysia.

For making false declarations on the origins of nine shipments of clothes, Dawn Shipping & Transport Co Pte Ltd was fined $58,000. It pleaded guilty to nine counts of violating the Regulation of Imports & Exports Act (RIEA) on Jul 27.

Singapore Customs officers discovered the company's offence when they inspected a shipment of ladies clothes in April. The goods were from China, but labels on the garments indicated Malaysia.

Customs officrs found out that the company intended to obtain an export permit by falsely declaring the country of origin as Malaysia before re-exporting the clothes to the United States. As a result, the shipment was seized.

Customs also found similar violations by the same company in eight earlier garment shipments between January and March. The eight shipments were worth over $330,000.

Other cases of violation

In February, a logistics operator was also charged and fined $22,000 for making false declarations of the country of origin.

In 2006, two other companies were convicted and fined $42,000 in total for similar offences.

Under the RIEA, those guilty of false declaration can face fines of up to $10,000 or jail of up to three years, or both.

For more information on regulations, please visit www.customs.gov.sg and www.tradenet.gov.sg.

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