History
The Customs department's history dates back to the Straits Settlement period. Established in 1910 under the name Government Monopolies Department, Customs is one of the oldest tax-collecting organisations in Singapore. The origin of revenue collection went back to December 1909 when the first import duty was imposed on hard liquors. In 1916, the tariff was extended to include tobacco and cigarettes. The collection of duty on petroleum was introduced in 1934.
The department has since gone through many developments, as well as organisational and name changes. The span of past 90 years has seen a significant expansion of the department's responsibilities, brought about by globalisation and changes in laws, tariffs, trading and traveling trends.
In April 2003, the department was re-constituted as Singapore Customs - an agency that provides services for customs, trade and revenue matters. .
Read more about this topic: Singapore Customs
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