KUALA LUMPUR, June 1 — A new Customs ruling now requires shipping firms to apply for approved permits (APs) for 74 product types, even if Malaysia is only an intermediate destination.
For local shipping firms, the added cost and bureaucracy would hurt not only their business but the attractiveness of Malaysian ports for international traders and transporters.
Malaysian Shipping Association chairman Ooi Lean Hin said the Customs Department ruling has been gazetted and came into effect in April.
“It’s ridiculous. We can’t do it. The goods are not ours. The goods are merely transiting in Malaysia,” Ooi told Malay Mail Online when contacted this week.
“We have written to the Customs Department and the matter is under consideration currently,” he added.
Ooi acknowledged, however, that the ruling has not yet been applied.
If enforced, it would require every ship calling in Malaysian ports to apply for the APs if any of their cargo falls in the 74 categories, even if these are not meant for the domestic sale or consumption.
“If this takes effect, the ports are going to lose a lot of business. The industry will be affected,” Ooi said.
It was previously reported that shipping companies are already looking to relocate abroad after Putrajaya announced that it was exempting the cabotage policy for Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan from today.
Local shipping firms are anticipating massive losses as the policy would mean foreign vessels would be able to transport domestically within Malaysia.
Under the cabotage policy, only a domestic freight company could transport goods domestically once it is unloaded by a foreign vessel at a Malaysian port.
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