Useful Travel Info, Take Note

We received information from a traveller who recently came to Malaysia for holiday, that he was asked about the value of the food items he was bringing in. He said that it would be about 2000 Turkish liras/ £100 and the customs officer calculated that to be about RM600.00. The traveller was then informed that each adult was only allowed an allowance of RM150.00 worth of food items into the country. As such, he and his wife would have to pay 10% on the remaining RM300.00.

We contacted the Customs Department for clarification on the matter since we had never heard of this rule before. Their response is as follows: –

• “Passengers are allowed to bring food preparations with a total value not exceeding RM150 where tax will be exempted. If the person imports in excess of the quantity or value of goods exempted, he shall be liable to pay customs duty on the excess only at a flat rate of 10% ad valorem. This is in line with the Item 10 Part I in the Schedule of Customs Duties (Exemption) Order 2017 and Item 16, Schedule A of Sales Tax (Persons Exempted From Payment Of Tax) Order 2018.
• On the other hand, the public and foreigners are able to access information about passenger’s travel exemptions inside the RMCD portal under Travel Guide (RMCD PORTAL > INDIVIDUALS > TRAVELLERS > Travel Guide). Imports and exports restrictions under prevailing orders are also being mentioned on that web page.”

Since the country is now opening its borders for travel once more, this is something important that travellers coming to Malaysia should keep in mind. You can visit this URL to read the Travel Guide: http://www.customs.gov.my/en/tp/Pages/tp_ppel.aspx

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