Apply for a tobacco retail licence

Tobacco retail licence

A tobacco retail licence is issued specifically to a particular outlet. If you operate more than one outlet, please make a separate application for each outlet.

You are allowed to start retail sales when your licence application is approved. Licences are non-transferrable between companies / outlets.

Responsibilities

As a tobacco retail licensee, you are responsible for:

• All transactions of tobacco products carried out at your retail outlet.

• The actions of your employees.

• The supervision of the sale of tobacco products in compliance with the relevant laws.

  • Employees must be familiar with the laws governing the sale of tobacco products.

  • Non-employees are not allowed to handle and retail tobacco.

  • All tobacco products on your licensed premises can only be accessed by employees.

  • Only one packet of each pack size of each cigarette brand is allowed to be displayed in the tobacco storage unit, whenever exposed to customers or the public, whether during re-stocking or during a sales transaction. However, this does not apply to duty-free and specialist tobacconist businesses.

• Verifying the age of buyers.

• Retaining every invoice or receipt for each tobacco transaction for a period of 1 year from the date of issue. You should be able to produce these upon request by an authorised officer.

The retail of tobacco products is not allowed:

• To minors below the Minimum Legal Age (MLA).

• At makeshift or temporary stalls.

• In hospitals, medical clinics, pharmacies, Chinese medical halls, Traditional Chinese Medicine clinics.

• At gaming arcades.

• In youth-centric institutions under the Ministry of Education (MOE) or Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF), such as:

  • Childcare centres

  • Pre-schools

  • Kindergartens

  • Rehabilitative homes

  • Schools

  • Institutes of Technical Education (ITE)

  • Polytechnics

  • Universities

Sale of tobacco products to minors

Anyone who, directly or indirectly, sells any tobacco product to a person below the MLA faces the following:

Who can apply

• Individuals above MLA:

  • Who have not committed the offence of selling tobacco products to minors (persons below the MLA).

  • Who have not been convicted of contravening any of the applicable laws or terms and conditions of the licence.

• Companies registered with the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA) or companies or individuals licensed by the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) to retail food and beverages:

  • Company Director.

  • Sole proprietor.

  • Partner.

  • Company Manager or originator.

Documents required

The following documents are required for private limited companies and sole proprietorships or partnerships:

• NRIC of applicants. 

• Tenancy agreement or lease (minimum one year occupation period from date of application)

Note: Please be aware that the maximum upload file size at GoBusiness Singapore website is 2MB for each supporting document. We may need more supporting documents to supplement your application.

Fees

Refer to tobacco control fees and turn-around-time for more information.

How to apply

Go to the 24-hour GoBusiness Singapore website for easy online application.

For hawkers issued with a SFA licence, please login at the GoBusiness Singapore website via your SingPass credentials.

For business with company registration, please login at the GoBusiness Singapore website via your CorpPass / SingPass (Business User) credentials.

An email notification will be sent once the application is approved or rejected.

Retrieve your licence

Once approved, an electronic copy of your licence is available on the GoBusiness Singaporewebsite, under the Licences tab. Please download and print a copy for reference at the licensed outlet.

Please contact the Licensing Unit if you have further queries concerning tobacco licence matters.