Section 3 — AKTA KASTAM (PINDAAN) 2018

(a)

in the shoulder note, by substituting for the words

“Control of agents” the words “Customs agent”;

(b)

in subsection (1)—

(i)

by substituting for the words “an agent shall” the words “a customs agent”;

(ii)

in paragraph (a), by inserting before the word

“attend” the word “shall”;

(iii)

by inserting after paragraph (a) the following paragraph:

“(aa) shall be a registered person under the

Service Tax Act 2018 [Act 807];”;

(iv)

in paragraph (b)—

(A)

by inserting before the word “produce”

the word “shall”; and

(B)

by deleting the word “and” at the end of the paragraph;

(v)

in paragraph (c)—

(A)

by inserting before the word “give” the word “shall”;

Customs (Amendment)

(B)

by substituting for the word “clerks” the word “employees”; and

(C)

by substituting for the full stop the words

“; and”; and

(vi)

by inserting after paragraph (c) the following paragraph:

“(d) shall not have been proved against him or convicted on a charge in respect of—

(i)

an offence involving fraud or dishonesty;

(ii)

an offence under any written law relating to corruption;

(iii)

an offence under any written law relating to taxation; or

(iv)

any offence punishable with imprisonment for more than two years.”;

(c)

by substituting for subsection (2) the following subsection:

“(2) Subject to subsection (1), any application for approval to act as a customs agent shall be made in the form as determined by the Director General.”;

(d)

in subsection (3), by inserting after the words “sufficient knowledge” the words “and experience”;

(e)

by inserting after subsection (3) the following subsection:

“(3a) The Director General may grant such approval for the application made under subsection (2) subject to such terms and conditions as he deems fit.”;

(f)

in subsection (4)—

(i)

by substituting for the words “A senior officer of customs may suspend or cancel any permission granted under this section, if the agent commits any breach” the words “The Director General may suspend or cancel any approval granted under subsection (3a) if the customs agent commits any breach”;

(ii)

by substituting for the words “subsection (2)” the words “subsection (3a)”; and

(iii)

by substituting for the words “by the agent” the words “by the customs agent”;

(g)

by deleting subsection (5);

(h)

in subsection (6)—

(i)

by substituting for the words “as agent when permission” the words “as customs agent when approval”;

(ii)

by substituting for the words “while such permission”

the words “while such approval”; and

(iii)

by substituting for the words “be liable to a fine not exceeding five hundred ringgit” the words “be liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years or to a fine not exceeding one hundred thousand ringgit or to both”;

(i)

by inserting after subsection (6) the following subsections:

“(6a) The importer, exporter or manufacturer may appoint a customs agent to act on his behalf on matters relating to declaration and clearance of goods or entry or clearance of any vessel or aircraft under this Act.

(6b)

For the purpose of subsection (6a), a person is presumed to act as a customs agent without being duly authorized if there is reasonable cause to believe that the proprietor or consignee is not in existence or the existence of the proprietor or consignee is unlawful.”;

Customs (Amendment)

(j)

in subsection (7)—

(i)

by substituting for the words “clerk or servant”

the word “employee”;

(ii)

by deleting the word “generally”;

(iii)

by substituting for the word “firm:” the word

“firm.”; and

(iv)

by deleting the proviso; and

(k)

by inserting after subsection (7) the following subsection:

“(8) Notwithstanding subsection (7), a senior officer of customs may refuse to transact business with such employee unless such person or firm has furnished a signed authority authorizing such employee to transact business on behalf of such person or firm.”.

Amendment of section 141c