Exemption
The Minister may, by regulations, exempt— (a) any person or class of persons; or (b) any activity in respect of any items of a specified nature or description, from any provisions of this Act, subject to such conditions as may be prescribed.
Institution of prosecution
No prosecution for or in relation to any offence under this Act relating to strategic items, unlisted items or restricted activities shall be instituted except by or with the written consent of the Public Prosecutor.
Offences by body corporate
Where an offence against any provision of this Act has been committed by a body corporate, any person who at the time of the commission of the offence was a director, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the body corporate or was purporting to act in any such capacity, or was in any manner or to any extent responsible for the management of any of the affairs of such body corporate, or was assisting in such management, shall be deemed to be guilty of that offence unless he proves that the offence was committed without his knowledge, consent or connivance and that he exercised all due diligence to prevent the commission of the offence as he ought to have exercised, having regard to the nature of his functions in that capacity and to all the circumstances.
Offences by employee or agent
Where any person would be liable under this Act to any punishment or penalty for any act, omission, neglect or default, such person shall be liable to the same punishment or penalty for every such act, omission, neglect or default of any employee or agent of his or of the employee of such agent, if such act, omission, neglect or default was committed by the person’s employee in the course of his employment, or by the agent when acting on behalf of the person, or by the employee of such agent in the course of his employment by such agent or otherwise on behalf of the agent.
Compounding of offences
(1) The Minister may, with the approval of the Public Prosecutor, make regulations prescribing— (a) any offence under this Act and any regulations made under the Act that may be compounded; (b) the criteria for compounding such offence; and (c) the method and procedure for compounding such offence. (2) The authorized officer may, with the consent in writing of the Public Prosecutor, compound any offence committed by any person under this Act and prescribed to be a compoundable offence by making a written offer to the person suspected to have committed the offence to compound the offence upon payment to the authorized officer of an amount of money not exceeding fifty per centum of the amount of maximum fine for that offence within such time as may be specified in his written offer. (3) An offer under subsection (2) may be made at any time after the offence has been committed but before any prosecution for it has been instituted. (4) If the amount specified in the offer is not paid within the time specified in the offer or such extended time as the authorized officer may grant, prosecution for the offence may be instituted at any time after that against the person to whom the offer was made. (5) Where an offence has been compounded under subsection (2), no prosecution shall be instituted in respect of the offence against the person to whom the offer to compound was made, and any items, strategic items and unlisted items together with any container, package, conveyance and other article in which the items, strategic items and unlisted items are stored, kept or found, record, book, account, document and computerized data seized in connection with the offence may be released or disposed by the Controller in accordance with section 41, subject to such terms as he thinks fit. (6) All sums of money received by the authorized officer under this section shall be paid into and form part of the Federal Consolidated Fund.
Notice for disclosure of information
(1) The Controller or the relevant Authority may send a notice to any person whom the Controller or the relevant Authority believes on reasonable grounds has information or documents relevant to the enforcement of this Act relating to strategic items, unlisted items or restricted activities, requesting the person to provide the information or documents to the Controller or the relevant Authority. (2) A person who receives a notice referred to in subsection (1) shall provide the requested information and documents to the Controller or the relevant Authority in the prescribed form and within the time specified in the notice. (3) A person who contravenes subsection (2) commits an offence and shall, on conviction, be punished with a fine not exceeding one million ringgit or with imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or with both.
Information is privileged and confidential
(1) Any information and document obtained pursuant to this Act or by virtue of this Act relating to strategic items, unlisted items or restricted activities are privileged and confidential. (2) Notwithstanding subsection (1), the information and documents referred to in subsection (1) are not privileged or confidential if they are required to be disclosed or communicated for the purpose of national interest, national security or under any written law. (3) No person in possession of privileged or confidential information or documents shall knowingly, without the written consent of the person from whom they were obtained, communicate them or allow them to be communicated to any person, or allow any person to have access to them, except for the purpose of the enforcement of this Act. (4) Notwithstanding any other written laws, no person shall be required, in connection with any legal proceedings, to produce any statement or other record containing privileged or confidential information or documents, or to give evidence relating to them, unless the proceedings relate to the enforcement of this Act.
Protection of officers
No action or prosecution shall be brought, instituted or maintained in any court against the Controller, the relevant Authority or an authorized officer for or on account of or in respect of any act ordered or done for the purpose of carrying into effect this Act if the act was done in good faith and in a reasonable belief that it was necessary for the purpose intended to be served thereby.
Protection of Government, etc. from liability
(1) The Government, Controller or relevant Authority, as the case may be, shall not be liable to make good any loss sustained in respect of any strategic items or unlisted items by fire, theft, damage or any other cause while such strategic items or unlisted items are in any customs warehouse or in the lawful custody or control of an authorized officer unless such loss is caused by the wilful neglect, or default of an authorized officer. (2) No authorized officer shall be liable to make good any loss sustained in respect of any strategic items or unlisted items by fire, theft, damage or other cause while such strategic items or unlisted items are in any customs warehouse or in the lawful custody or control of such authorized officer unless such loss is caused by his wilful neglect or default.
Regulations
(1) The Minister may make such regulations as may be necessary or expedient for giving full effect to the provisions of this Act. (2) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1), regulations may be made— (a) to prescribe any forms for the purposes of this Act; (b) to prescribe any information to be furnished for the purposes of this Act; (c) to prescribe the procedures for the issuance of permits under this Act, including the establishment of different classes of permits for different classes of strategic items; (d) to prescribe the procedures for the registration of brokers under this Act, including the establishment of different classes of brokers for different classes of strategic items; (e) to prescribe the forms for end-use statements; (f) to prescribe the fees to be paid under this Act and the manner for collecting and dealing with such fees; (g) to prescribe the forms of registers to be kept and maintained by permit holders and registered brokers, including the particulars to be recorded in the registers; (h) to provide for any matter, including enforcement matters, which under this Act is required or permitted to be prescribed or which is necessary or expedient to be prescribed. (3) The regulations made under this section or any other subsidiary legislation made under this Act may prescribe for any act or omission in contravention of the regulations or subsidiary legislation to be an offence and may prescribe for penalties of a fine not exceeding one million ringgit or imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years or with both.
Amendment of Schedule
The Minister may, by order published in the Gazette, amend the Schedule.
Saving and transitional
(1) A person engaged in any activity relating to strategic items or in any restricted activities immediately before the commencement of this Act and intends to continue with that activity on and after such commencement shall, not later than three months from the date of commencement of this Act, apply to the Controller or relevant Authority for a permit or registration, as the case may require, under this Act. (2) Pending the decision of the Controller or relevant Authority on the application under subsection (1), the applicant shall be deemed to be temporarily authorized to continue his activities under this Act for a period of three months from the date of commencement of this Act and no action shall be taken against him for engaging in such activity without a permit or registration during such period. (3) Notwithstanding subsection (2), a person authorized under this section shall for the purposes of this Act comply with the requirements, duties and obligations of a permit holder or a registered broker. (4) Where a permit is issued under section 16 or registration is granted under section 19 by the Controller or relevant Authority, the applicant shall immediately take the necessary action to comply with any conditions imposed on the permit or registration, as the case may require. (5) Where the permit or registration is refused by the Controller or relevant Authority, the applicant shall cease to be deemed to be authorized under subsection (2) from the date he is notified of the decision of the Controller or relevant Authority. “Transitional *NOTE—see section 60 of the Abolition of Mandatory Death Penalty Act 2023 [Act 846] w.e.f 4 July 2023 which provides the following provision:
Upon the coming into operation of this Act, if a person is convicted by any court for the commission of an offence under subsubparagraph 9(4)(a)(i)(A), subsubparagraph 9(5)(a)(i)(A), subsubparagraph 9(6)(a)(i)(A), paragraph 10(2)(a), subparagraph 11(2)(a)(i) or subsubparagraph 12(4)(a)(i)(A) of the principal Act, the person, whether at a trial or on an appeal, shall be sentenced in accordance with the provisions of the principal Act as amended by this Act even though the offence was committed before the date of coming into operation of this Act.”.
Provisions on this page are reproduced verbatim from official open data. See the attribution line.
Text as at 4 July 2023 (LOM reprint); amendments made after that date may not be incorporated. Read the official text ↗
Source: Laws of Malaysia, Attorney General's Chambers of Malaysia (lom.agc.gov.my). Not a copy of the Gazette printed by the Government Printer (Interpretation Acts 1948 and 1967, s 61).