Woman arriving at airport fails to declare $2,750 Bearbrick Royal Selangor pewter figurine, fined $565
A woman arriving from Malaysia attempted to exit the arrival hall via the Green Channel at Changi Airport on Oct 18.
The Green Channel is for travellors who do not have declarable goods, but their baggage may still be checked.
Checks revealed that the woman had an undeclared Bearbrick Tiger Edition Royal Selangor 400% pewter collectible figurine, which retails at $2,750.
She was fined $565.
The woman was one of 23,742 travellers caught not declaring dutiable and taxable goods brought into Singapore in the first 10 months of 2025.
The number is up from the same period in 2024 and 2023 when 13,099 and 7,139 travellers were caught respectively, said Singapore Customs in a Dec 1 media release.
In another recent case, a woman arriving from Bangkok was directed for further checks after attempting to exit the arrival hall via the Green Channel at Changi Airport on Oct 17.
Checks uncovered undeclared new luxury items, including a bag, a wallet and three
pieces of jewellery. A maximum composition sum of $5,000 was imposed.
It's not just at the airport.
On July 31, a man arriving at the Singapore Cruise Centre was found with 544 pieces of assorted fishing lures intended for commercial purposes and fined $1,130.
Then on Oct 9, a male traveller at Woodlands Checkpoint failed to declare 11 bundles of tee shirts he was delivering to companies in Singapore and was fined $2,990.
Also at Woodlands Checkpoint, another man was found with several rolls of furniture laminate intended for commercial purposes in his vehicle on Oct 23. He was fined $250.
"Evading payment of duties and/or goods and services tax (GST) at the checkpoints is a serious offence," said a Singapore Customs spokesperson.
"Revenue collected belongs to Singapore and supports fair competition for local enterprises that comply with tax obligations. We will take firm action against all offenders, including imposing the heaviest penalties on those who wilfully violate our laws."
All goods brought into Singapore by travellers, including foreign visitors and residents, are subject to GST, regardless of any foreign sales or value-added tax paid.
Under the Customs Act, any person who is in any way concerned in any fraudulent evasion of, or attempt to fraudulently evade, any customs duty or excise duty shall be guilty of an offence and will be liable on conviction to a fine of up to 20 times the amount of duty and GST evaded or jailed for up to two years.
Singapore Customs said the onus therefore lies on every traveller to truthfully and accurately declare and pay the applicable duties and/or GST for all items exceeding their GST import relief entitlements and duty-free allowances.
The GST import relief entitlement is $100 for a traveller who has been away from Singapore for less than 48 hours, and $500 for a traveller who is away for 48 hours or more.
