Malaysia Amends Customs, Trade Regulations

Malaysia’s amended trade and customs-related legislation took effect Jan. 1, according to a Jan. 10 Baker McKenzie post. The changes include replacing the country's customs regulations and free-trade zone regulations and introducing a new format for customs declaration forms. Other changes include the Customs Act of 2019, which increases the power of customs authority to enforce customs laws, collect underpaid duties and penalize non-compliant entities. Malaysia also created record-keeping requirements for a period of seven years for certain importation and exportation activities in free-trade zones. In addition, Malaysia customs now has the ability to offset “any amount of drawback or refund” that is due against “any unpaid amount of customs duty, excise duty, sales tax, service tax … or any other money payable.”