No more verbal declarations, travellers must fill in customs form
Published on: Wednesday, October 05, 2022
By:
FMT, K Parkaran
Every arriving traveller is required to declare all dutiable and prohibited goods as well as currencies or other monetary instruments exceeding US$10,000 in their possession.
PETALING JAYA: Travellers entering and exiting Malaysia who were spared the hassle of filling up customs declaration forms all this while will now have to do so.
In a notice posted yesterday, the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM) said the customs department had issued a letter requiring all travellers entering and leaving the country to make the declaration by filling in Customs Form No 7 (K7) as required under Section 103 of the Customs Act 1967.
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“Every passenger or other persons arriving in or leaving Malaysia shall declare all dutiable or prohibited goods in their possession to the customs officers on duty,” the notice read.
With this, CAAM said, all airlines entering Malaysia had been asked to announce the requirement to all passengers on board.
No reasons were given for the resumption of this practice which was stopped many years ago.
The department has even provided a sample announcement to be made on the flight before the plane lands in Malaysia, both in English and Malay. The English version is as follows:
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“Every arriving traveller is required to declare all dutiable and prohibited goods as well as currencies or other monetary instruments of a total amount exceeding US$10,000 (RM45,000) in their possession.
“The declaration shall be made by using Customs Form No 7 and to be submitted at the customs department (RMCD) examination checkpoint. Customs Form No. 7 is available at the RMCD counter. Any false declarations or failure to declare is an offence under Malaysian law.”
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However, it is unclear if every passenger has to fill up the form or only those who carry dutiable goods or money amounting to more than US$10,000.
Before this directive came into immediate effect, all passengers were only required to verbally declare dutiable goods, prohibited items or any amount above US$10,000 to the customs officers. Some passengers are also picked out for random checks.
A travel agency operator said this practice was stopped decades ago although it is stated under the Customs Act.
“Although it means more paperwork for travellers, including Malaysians, they should not complain because countries like Australia and India enforce it strictly,” he said.
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