Customs declaration form a must for Malaysia travellers

After the customs declaration form requirement was dropped many years ago, the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM) have announced that it will be reintroduced, effective immediately. In a notice posted on 4th October 2022, the customs department advised that this must be done by completing Customs Form No 7 (K7) as required under Section 103 of the Customs Act 1967.

Customs declaration form requirements

All travellers entering and leaving the country must make the declaration, no verbal declarations will be allowed. Before this directive, passengers were only required to verbally declare dutiable goods, prohibited items or any amount above US$10,000 to the customs officers. Individual passengers were also selected for random checks.

No reasons were given for the sudden announcement, which also stated:

…. Every passenger or other persons arriving in or leaving Malaysia shall declare all dutiable or prohibited goods in their possession to the customs officers on duty.

Further to the announcement, CAAM advised that all airlines entering Malaysia had been asked to announce the requirement to all passengers on board. The department has provided a sample announcement to be made on the flight in both English and Malay before the plane lands in Malaysia. The English version is as follows:

…. Every arriving traveller is required to declare all dutiable and prohibited goods as well as currencies or other monetary instruments of a total amount exceeding US$10,000 (RM45,000) in their possession. The declaration shall be made by using Customs Form No 7 and to be submitted at the customs department (RMCD) examination checkpoint. Customs Form No. 7 is available at the RMCD counter. Any false declarations or failure to declare is an offence under Malaysian law.

However, based on this wording, it is unclear if every passenger is required to fill up the form or only those carrying dutiable goods or money amounting to more than US$10,000. It would also be helpful if these forms could be given to airlines to distribute before landing, to relieve congestion at the customs area.

Many countries, including Australia and India enforce these declarations strictly, although in Australia’s case, the main emphasis is on quarantine requirements. For more information, check the Royal Malaysian Customs website.