Singapore cars with tinted windows will not be pulled over by Malaysian cops - at least until the two countries agree on a common standard.

And as for the RM20 (S$8.50) fee that was to have been levied on foreign cars entering the country, a decision on it - characterised as "good news" by a Malaysian official - can be expected next week.

These announcements came from a top tourism official from Malaysia, which hopes to purge factors that might discourage Singaporeans from driving in.

Mr Amirrudin Abu, Tourism Malaysia's Director of International Promotion, was speaking to reporters at the opening of the Visit Malaysia 2007 Travel Fair at Suntec City yesterday.

The issue of window tints surfaced early this year, when several Singaporeans said they had received summonses while driving in Malaysia.

They were in trouble because Malaysian law requires foreign-registered cars entering its borders to allow in 75 per cent of light through the front windscreen, and at least half the light through the side windows and rear windscreen.

Singapore laws are different: The Land Transport Authority (LTA) requires 70 per cent of light to be let in through the front windscreen and the two side windows in front, and only a quarter of the light for the rear windscreen and rear windows.

Another issue motorists heading across the Causeway are concerned with ? Malaysia had announced in April last year that a RM20 fee would be imposed on foreign cars. This fee was to help defray fuel subsidies, which have kept Malaysian pump prices among the lowest in the region. The implementation was first delayed until September last year, but nothing had been heard about it since.

Mr Amirrudin said "good news" would come next week. Asked to elaborate, he quipped: "Sometimes, no news is the best news." Singapore continues to be Malaysia's top tourist market.

Mr Amirrudin said he was confident Malaysia would pull in 10 million tourist arrivals from Singapore this year, up from last year's 9.6 million.

The three-day fair to court Singaporeans has put over 80 Malaysia-based tourist product operators under Suntec's roof.