Ciggies to get new stamp

When the rule comes into effect, all duty-paid cigarettes sold in Singapore will be required to be marked with the letters

 

The Straits Times

 

FROM Jan 1 2009, all duty-paid cigarettes sold in Singapore will need to be marked with the letters ‘SDPC’, which stands for Singapore Duty-Paid Cigarettes.

 

Once this new ruling kicks off, all unmarked cigarettes sold here would be deemed illegal.

 

This means that anyone caught selling, buying, or having in possession cigarettes without the SDPC marking would be committing an offence under the Customs and GST Acts.

 

‘The availability of cheap duty-unpaid cigarettes will hamper our national effort to discourage to discourage smoking’, said Mr Fong Yong Kian, Director-General of Customs.

 

‘The marking will serve as deterrence against the peddling and buying of contrabrand cigarettes and help our officers in the enforcement efforts,’ he added.

Under the Customs and GST Acts, smoking and possession of duty-unpaid cigarettes is an offence. For every packet of duty-unpaid cigarettes, the offender can be fined $500.

 

Members of the public can visit the Singapore Customs website for more information.