SINGAPORE – The Ministry of Transport (MOT) will consider an “appropriate response” if Malaysia applies a vehicle entry permit (VEP) requirement to only Singapore-registered vehicles.

“Earlier this year, the Malaysia government announced its intention to implement a VEP requirement at all its land borders, including with Singapore,” an MOT spokesman said on Friday (Sept 6) in response to media queries.

“However, it is not clear from its latest comments whether Malaysia still intends to implement this at its other land borders with Thailand, Indonesia and Brunei, and how much later.”

MOT did not specify what response it would take if the permit is applied only to Singapore-registered vehicles.

On Monday, Malaysia’s Transport Minister Anthony Loke said his ministry is still looking into how it could implement the permit at Malaysia’s borders with Thailand, Indonesia and Brunei, reported Malaysia Chinese-language daily Sin Chew Daily.

He added that the authorities would first implement the VEP at Malaysia’s border with Singapore and that the ministry was ready to introduce the permit.

In April, the Malaysian government announced that it will enforce mandatory registration for foreign vehicles entering from Singapore from Oct 1.

Only VEP-registered vehicles will be allowed entry into Malaysia once the permit is implemented, it said.

The long-debated VEP scheme is expected to be carried out in three stages, beginning with the Causeway and Second Link, followed by the Malaysia-Thai border, and then the border between Malaysia and Brunei as well as the Malaysia border with Indonesia.

The Malaysian government did not say when the VEP would come into effect at the other borders.

The plan to implement a VEP at all Malaysian land borders has been delayed several times because the Malaysian authorities said they needed more time to fine-tune the system. It has been in the testing stage since last year.

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