Spot legal cigarettes with their lines
Posted: 29 November 2012 1429 hrs
(File photo)
SINGAPORE: From March next year, all cigarettes sold in Singapore must have a new marking to show that they are not contraband or smuggled goods.
Besides the letters "SDPC", which stand for Singapore Duty-Paid Cigarette, there will be a series of vertical bars around the cigarette stick.
Cigarettes with the extra feature can be sold from December 1. From March 1, cigarettes without the new marking will be considered duty-unpaid and illegal.
This is to give manufacturers and retailers time to phase in the revised mark.
Singapore Customs said on Thursday that the new feature will make it easier to tell the difference between duty-paid cigarettes and contraband cigarettes, when it conducts checks to curb the selling, buying and possession of contraband cigarettes.
Those who bring in cigarettes from overseas for their own consumption have to declare them at the Customs Red Channel, as well as pay the duty and Goods and Services Tax (GST).
They should also keep the receipt as proof of payment.
(Photo: Singapore Customs)
- CNA/xq
