Singapore’s Import Regulations
Knowing what you can and cannot take into Singapore is extremely important to know before moving. Singapore’s import rules and regulations are strict, but they are there to keep the country and its people safe. This guide will inform you with all you need to know about Singapore’s restrictions so that you have peace of mind before making your big move.
Prohibited goods
Singapore Customs prohibit the following items:
- Chewing Gum
- Cigarette lighters – pistol/revolver shaped
- Fire Crackers
- Rhinoceros horn
- Prohibited telecommunication equipment including: scanning receivers & telephone voice changing equipment
- Chewing tobacco, imitation tobacco, shisha, nasal snuff, dissolvable nicotine
Controlled Goods
Controlled goods require proper authorisation from Competent Authorities (CAs) before they may imported into Singapore:
- Amusement machines, coin or disc-operated, including pin-tables, shooting galleries & cinematograph machines
- Animals, birds and products thereof
- Arms & explosives
- Articles of asbestos
- Articles of clothing intended as protection against attack, including bulletproof vests
- Batteries (primary), alkaline, zinc-carbon and mercury oxide
- Cartridges/cassettes/audio compact diskettes – pre-recorded
- Chemicals
- Poisons and hazardous
- Toxic chemicals and precursors
- Pesticides
- Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)
- Diesel oil/fuel
- Rough diamonds
- Films, cinema/video/laser discs
- Fishes and fishery products (including fin fish, crustaceans and molluscs)
- Flammable materials
- Food items (excluding fresh/chilled vegetables and fruits)
- Fruits (fresh/chilled)
- Fruit/jackpot machines
- Ginseng roots
- Gramophone records
- Handcuffs
- Halons
- Helmets (Steel)
- Human pathogens
- Irradiating apparatus
Mastering equipment and replication equipment:
- CD (compact disc)
- CD-ROM (compact disc-read only memory)
- VCD (video compact disc)
- DVD (digital video disc)
- DVD-ROM (digital video disc-read only memory)
- Meat and meat products of animals and birds
- Medicaments, veterinary
- Milk powder – skimmed (coloured for animal feed)
- Fresh milk/skimmed/pasteurised from Peninsular Malaysia/Sabah/Sarawak
- Nitro-cellulose
- Organic fertilizer
- Petroleum
- Plants with/without soil, flowers and seeds
- Poppy seeds (kaskas)
- Precursor chemicals
- Publications
- Radioactive materials (refer to link)
- Rice (excluding rice bran)
- Sand & granite (essential construction materials)
- Surface-active agents, anionic
- Tableware and kitchenware of:
- Porcelain or china
- Lead crystal
- Tapes, pre-recorded
- Timber and wood (CITES listed)
- Toy guns/pistols/revolvers
- Toy walkie-talkie
- Vegetables (fresh/chilled)
Waste lead-acid batteries and waste batteries made with lead, cadmium or mercury
If you are unsure about any of the above, please don’t hesitate to contact us for further information and guidance.
