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Source:
www.spf.gov.sg |
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Secondhand Goods Dealers Act
to Take Effect 1 December |
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A new law to regulate secondhand goods
dealers, which is known as the Secondhand Goods Dealers Act (SHGDA) will
come into effect on 1 Dec 2007. |
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With the introduction of this new law, the
existing Secondhand Dealers Act, Cap 288, will be repealed on the same
date. |
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Key Features of the New Act |
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Sharper Regulatory Focus |
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Under the new Act, only dealers who deal in
secondhand goods that are listed in the Schedule will be regulated. This
will be regardless of whether such dealings take place at a shopfront,
via a makeshift stall or over the Internet. |
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The list of items was drawn up based on
crime data of commonly stolen items. While the existing Act has a wider
list of items, the new regulatory regime has a reduced list which
comprises commonly stolen items. This allows a sharper regulatory focus
in preventing fencing1. |
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Dealers who deal in items which are not in
the new list will not be regulated. The list of items may also be
revised according to crime trends. |
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Pro-Enterprise Regulations |
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For dealers who deal in goods listed
in the Schedule, they will be exempted from licensing if they have
not been convicted of or are not a subject of police
investigations for the commission of any offence under the Act or
one that involves fraud or dishonesty. |
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These exempted dealers do not have to
apply and renew their licence annually. However, they still have
to abide by the requirements of the SHGDA, for instance, keeping
records of transactions including particulars of persons who buy/
sell the secondhand goods. |
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Crossed Cheque Payment Requirement |
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Under the new Act, dealers will be
required to make payment to sellers of scrapmetal via crossed
cheque for all transactions involving metals listed in the
Schedule. This is to deter thieves from disposing off stolen metal
items with scrapmetal dealers as they may be more easily traced
via their bank accounts. |
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While Police recognise that this
requirement may pose some inconvenience to scrapmetal dealers, the
requirement is an important tool in Police’s efforts to tackle the
problem of metal theft, especially those involving items such as
lightning conductors, drain covers and dry-riser lugs, which pose
danger to public safety. |
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Enhanced Penalties |
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The penalties in the new Act have been
enhanced to reflect the severity of theft offences in today’s
context. The penalties in the old Act consist of fines of up to
$1,000, or imprisonment up to 6 months, or both. |
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In comparison, the penalties in the
new Act include fines of up to $20,000 or imprisonment of up to 12
months, or both. For minor breaches to the provisions under the
new Act, the Licensing Officer has the discretion to compound the
offence (up to $2,000). |
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Notification of Dealers |
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Information on the new law and its
regulations has been disseminated to existing dealers on Police’s
record via post. The same information is also available on the
Police Licensing website
http://www.spf.gov.sg/licence. |
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Existing licences issued to secondhand
goods dealers under the former Act will remain valid until expiry. |
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However, these existing dealers would
have to register with Police before 31 Dec 07 when their existing
licence expires, if they intend to deal in the goods as listed in
the Schedule of the Act beyond 31 Dec 07. They will be informed
subsequently by Police whether they need to apply for a licence or
if they may operate under exemption. |
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New dealers can download the
registration form via the Police Licensing website (http://www.spf.gov.sg/licence/
) and mail it to Licensing Division or come in person to submit
the form2 (Address: Police Licensing Division, Police Cantonment
Complex, Block D, 391 New Bridge Road, #02-701, Singapore 088762).
Registration will begin from 19 Nov 07 and they may also contact
the Police Licensing Division at Tel No. 68350000 during office
hours. |
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To reach out to those who are not
licensed under the current Act but who will be affected by the new
legislation, such as makeshift stall owners at the Sungei Road
market who do not have a shopfront, officers have conducted
visits, provided advisories and explained the changes to them
directly. |
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Affected dealers are advised to make
the necessary adjustments to their business processes to meet the
regulations in the new regime before 1 Dec 2007 . |
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More..... |
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Source:
www.spf.gov.sg Media Release
18 Oct 2007 |
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Related Article: |
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Secondhand Goods Dealers Bill 2007 passed |
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FrontPage Edition: Thu 18 October 2007
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