Confidentiality
Open ↗26.—(1) Every person must keep confidential any information that is given pursuant to this Act or the Convention concerning the affairs of another person.
(2) Such information may be disclosed only with the consent of the person to whose affairs it relates or for the purpose of —(a)
enabling Singapore to fulfil its obligations under the Convention;
(b)
the enforcement of this Act; or
(c)
dealing with an emergency involving public safety or ensuring the security of Singapore.[2/2012]
(3) Any person who fails to comply with this section shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $6,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to both.
Warrant for search and seizure
Open ↗27.—(1) If a Magistrate is satisfied, on information on oath, that there is reasonable ground for suspecting that an offence under this Act is being, has been or is about to be committed on any premises or that evidence of the commission of such an offence is to be found there, the Magistrate may issue a warrant in writing to an authorised officer to enter the premises, if necessary by force, at any time within one month from the time of the issue of the warrant and to search the premises.
(2) An authorised officer who enters the premises under the authority of the warrant may —(a)
take with him or her such other person and such equipment as appear to him or her to be necessary;
(b)
inspect any document found on the premises which he or she has reasonable cause to believe may be required as evidence for the purposes of proceedings in respect of an offence under this Act;
(c)
take copies of, or seize and remove, such document;
(d)
inspect, seize and remove any device or equipment found on the premises which he or she had reasonable cause to believe may be required as such evidence;
(e)
inspect, sample, seize and remove any substance found on the premises which he or she has reasonable cause to believe may be required as such evidence; and
(f)
search or cause to be searched any person found on the premises whom he or she has reasonable cause to believe to be in possession of any document, device, equipment or substance.
(3) A woman or girl must not be searched except by a woman.
(4) Any person who wilfully obstructs, hinders, resists or deceives any authorised officer in entering the premises concerned or in exercising any of the powers referred to in subsection (2) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $15,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to both.
Offences by body corporate
Open ↗28. Where an offence under this Act is committed by a body corporate, and it is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of, or to be attributable to any act or default on the part of, any director, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the body corporate, or any person who was purporting to act in any such capacity, he or she, as well as the body corporate, shall be guilty of that offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.
Jurisdiction of courts
Open ↗29. A District Court or a Magistrate’s Court has jurisdiction to hear and determine all prosecutions for offences under this Act; and a District Court, despite anything to the contrary in the Criminal Procedure Code 2010, has jurisdiction to impose the full penalty or punishment under this Act.
Composition of offences
Open ↗30.—(1) The Director‑General may compound any offence under this Act that is prescribed as a compoundable offence by collecting from a person reasonably suspected of having committed the offence a sum not exceeding —(a)
$1,000 in respect of any offence where the maximum fine prescribed for that offence is less than $5,000; and
(b)
$5,000 in respect of any other offence.[49/2007]
(2) The Minister may make regulations to prescribe the offences which may be compounded.
Public servants
Open ↗31. All authorised officers are deemed to be public servants within the meaning of the Penal Code 1871.
Power to amend Schedule
Open ↗32. The Minister may, by order in the Gazette, amend or add to the Schedule in conformity with any amendment to the Chemicals Annex which may be duly made or adopted.
Regulations
Open ↗33.—(1) The Minister may make regulations for any matter that is necessary or desirable for the purposes of implementing this Act or the Convention, or any agreement that is concluded between Singapore and the Organisation pursuant to the Convention.
(2) Without limiting subsection (1), regulations may be made —(a)
to impose on any importer, exporter, agent, forwarding agent, common carrier, consignor or consignee of goods or on any owner, agent, master or person in charge of a conveyance as may be prescribed in the regulations, the duty to furnish —(i)
to the Director‑General; or
(ii)
to the owner, agent, master or person in charge of a conveyance, or to a railway station‑master or to such other person as may be prescribed,
such particulars, information or documents as may be prescribed in respect of any scheduled chemical that is imported or exported;
(b)
to require the master of any vessel to attend at the office of the Director‑General or Port Master, and to furnish such particulars, information and documents, as may be prescribed;
(c)
to prohibit the issue of a port clearance to the master of any vessel pending compliance with any provision of the regulations;
(d)
for the registration of any scheduled chemical that is imported or exported;
(e)
to prescribe offences in respect of the contravention of or non-compliance with any regulations made under this section, and prescribing fines, not exceeding $10,000, that may, on conviction, be imposed in respect of any such offence; and
(f)
to prescribe anything which is required or permitted to be prescribed under this Act or is necessary or expedient to be prescribed for carrying out or giving effect to the provisions of this Act.[49/2007]
Source: Singapore Statutes Online (Attorney-General's Chambers), © Government of Singapore.
