Protection from personal liability
96.—(1) No matter or thing done and no contract of any kind entered into by the Agency or the Director‑General and no matter or thing done by any authorised officer or any other person employed in the administration of this Act or acting under the direction of the Agency, the Director‑General or authorised officer shall, if the matter or thing was done or the contract was entered into bona fide for the purpose of executing the provisions of this Act, subject them or any of them personally to any action, liability, claim or demand.
(2) Any expense incurred by those persons acting in accordance with subsection (1) must be borne by the Agency.
Exemption of agent who has no funds in hand
97.—(1) No person (A) receiving the rent of premises as receiver or agent for another person is liable to do anything by this Act required to be done by the owner of the premises if, after A or the actual owner has been required to do any work, A gives notice to the Director‑General within 7 days after the requisition has been made, that A does not have sufficient funds of the person on whose behalf A is receiving the rents to pay for the work.
(2) In that case, the Director‑General may himself or herself execute the work and the expenses incurred thereby must be charged and recoverable as provided in section 92.
Service of summons, notice, etc.
98.—(1) Every summons, notice, order or document required or authorised by this Act to be served on any person may be served by —(a)
delivering it to the person or by delivering it at the person’s last known place of residence to some adult member or employee of the person’s family;
(b)
leaving it at the person’s usual or last known place of residence or business in a cover addressed to the person; or
(c)
forwarding it by post in a prepaid letter addressed to the person at the person’s usual or last known place of residence or business.
(2) When any summons, notice, order or document is to be served on any incorporated company or body, it may be served by —(a)
delivering it to the secretary or other like officer of the company or body; or
(b)
sending it by registered post addressed to the company or body at its registered or principal office.[48/2018]
(3) In addition, any notice, order or document (other than a notice, order or document to be served in proceedings in court) required or authorised by this Act to be served on an individual, a partnership, a body corporate or an unincorporated association may be served by sending it by fax to whichever of the following is applicable:(a)
the fax number last known as the fax number for the service of notices, orders or documents on the individual;
(b)
the fax number used at the partnership’s business address;
(c)
the fax number used at the body corporate’s or unincorporated association’s registered office or principal office in Singapore.[48/2018]
(4) A summons, notice, order or document required or authorised by this Act to be served on the owner or occupier of any premises may be served by delivering it or a true copy thereof to some adult person on the premises or, if there is no such person on the premises to whom it can with reasonable diligence be delivered, by affixing the summons, notice, order or document to some conspicuous part of the premises.
(5) Any summons, notice, order or document required or authorised by this Act to be served on the owner or occupier of any premises is deemed to be properly addressed if addressed by the description of the owner or occupier of the premises without further name or description.
(6) Service of any notice, order or document (other than a notice, order or document to be served in proceedings in court) takes effect —(a)
if the notice, order or document is sent by prepaid registered post, on the second day after the day the notice, order or document was posted (even if it is returned undelivered); or
(b)
if the notice, order or document is sent by fax and a notification of successful transmission is received, on the day of the transmission.[48/2018]
(7) In this section, “business address” or “place of business” means —(a)
in the case of an individual, the individual’s usual or last known place of business in Singapore; and
(b)
in the case of a partnership (other than a limited liability partnership), the partnership’s principal or last known place of business in Singapore.[48/2018]
Licences
99.—(1) Any licence under this Act may be —(a)
granted or renewed at the discretion of the Director‑General;
(b)
granted, renewed or refused without any reason for the grant, renewal or refusal being given therefor; and
(c)
granted or renewed subject to any restrictions and conditions that the Director‑General may think fit.
(2) The Director‑General may require any applicant for a licence to furnish any information and evidence that he or she may reasonably require for a full and proper consideration of the application.
(3) If the applicant refuses to furnish the information under subsection (2), the Director‑General must refuse to grant or renew the licence.
(4) The Director‑General may, before granting or renewing any licence, require the applicant to give security, either in the form of a cash deposit or by entering into a bond, that the provisions of this Act and of the conditions of the licence will be duly observed.
(5) Where an applicant is required to enter into a bond, the Director‑General may require not more than 2 sureties to enter into the bond with the applicant.
(6) Any sum deposited or bond entered into under this section is liable to forfeiture in whole or in part at the discretion of the Director‑General on cancellation of the licence.
(7) Any person who wilfully furnishes any false information in any application for a licence shall be guilty of an offence and any licence granted is void and of no effect.
(8) Subject to the provisions of this Act, any licence may be for such period as the Director‑General thinks fit.
(9) There must be charged for the grant or renewal of any licence any fee that may be prescribed by the Agency with the approval of the Minister.
(10) Where a licence is granted for a period of less than 12 months, the Director‑General may charge a proportionate fee therefor; and in charging the proportionate fee, any part of a month is reckoned as one month.
(11) No licensee is entitled to any refund of any fee paid by the licensee in respect of any licence.
(12) A person must not in any manner transfer any licence or permit any licence to be used by any other person without the approval in writing of the Director‑General.
(13) Subject to subsection (14), it is lawful for the Director-General to modify the conditions of a licence without compensating the licensee concerned, except that any such modification must not be inconsistent with —(a)
where the licensee is a waste disposal licensee — any prescribed condition referred to in section 23A(1) or (2); or
(b)
where the licensee is a waste collector licensee — any prescribed condition referred to in section 31AA(1) or (2).[Act 5 of 2023 wef 01/07/2023]
(14) Before modifying any conditions of a licence, the Director‑General must give notice to the licensee holding that licence —(a)
stating that the Director‑General proposes to make the modification in the manner specified in the notice; and
(b)
specifying the time (being not less than a prescribed period after the date of service of notice on the licensee) within which the licensee may make written representations to the Director‑General with respect to the proposed modification.[11/2019]
(15) Subject to sections 23A(3) and 31AA(3), where a licensee —(a)
is in breach of any restriction or condition subject to which the licence was granted; or
(b)
has contravened any provision of this Act,
the Director-General may —
(c)
suspend or cancel the licence; and
(d)
in the case of paragraph (a), in lieu of or in addition to paragraph (c), impose a financial penalty of any amount, not exceeding $5,000, unless the breach in paragraph (a) is an offence under this Act.[11/2019]
[Act 5 of 2023 wef 01/07/2023]
(16) Subject to the provisions of this Act, any person who is aggrieved by —(a)
the refusal by the Director‑General to grant or renew any licence;
(b)
the decision of the Director‑General to modify the conditions of a licence under subsection (13);
(c)
the suspension or cancellation by the Director‑General of any licence;
(d)
the imposition of any financial penalty by the Director‑General; or
(e)
the forfeiture of any sum deposited or bond entered into under this section,
may, within 14 days of the refusal, suspension, cancellation, imposition of financial penalty or forfeiture, appeal to the Minister whose decision is final.
[11/2019]
(17) Any financial penalty imposed on any person under this section is to be paid into the Consolidated Fund.[16/2016]
(18) The provisions of this section affecting any licence or permit apply (so far as relevant) to any licence or permit granted or renewed under Parts 4 and 9 by the Director‑General, Food Administration —(a)
as if the licence or permit were granted or renewed under any other Parts of this Act pursuant to an application to the Director‑General;
(b)
as if the reference to the Director‑General in this section were a reference to the Director‑General, Food Administration;
(c)
as if the reference to the Agency in this section were a reference to the Singapore Food Agency;
(d)
as if the reference to the Minister in this section were a reference to the Minister charged with the responsibility for food safety; and
(e)
with any other exceptions, modifications and adaptations that the differences between Parts 4 and 9 and other Parts require.[11/2019]
(19) In this section, “licence” includes any approval, permit, permission, authority, authorisation or licence which may be granted or renewed under this Act, but does not include a certificate issued by the Director-General under Part 5A or a cleaning business licence granted or renewed under Part 9A.[15/2014; 11/2019]
[Act 23 of 2023 wef 18/12/2023]
Codes of practice and standards of performance
99A.—(1) The Director-General may issue, approve, amend or revoke one or more codes of practice or standards of performance with respect to —(a)
programmes and measures relating to environmental sanitation;
(b)
activities and conduct of licensees and registered persons under this Act;
(c)
activities that relate to or concern environmental public health;
(d)
the cleaning, disinfection and operation of any class of premises, facilities or systems under this Act;
(e)
the operation of any provision of this Act; or
(f)
generally for carrying out the purposes of this Act.[33/2020]
(2) If any provision in any code of practice or standard of performance is inconsistent with this Act, such provision (to the extent of the inconsistency) does not have effect.[33/2020]
(3) Where a code of practice or standard of performance is issued, approved, amended or revoked by the Director‑General under subsection (1), the Director‑General must —(a)
publish a notice of the issue, approval, amendment or revocation (as the case may be) in such manner as will secure adequate publicity for such issue, approval, amendment or revocation;
(b)
specify in the notice the date of the issue, approval, amendment or revocation, as the case may be; and
(c)
ensure that, so long as the code of practice or standard of performance remains in force, copies of that code or standard, and of all amendments to that code or standard, are available free of charge to any person to which that code or standard applies.[33/2020]
(4) None of the following has any effect until the notice relating to it is published in accordance with subsection (3):(a)
a code of practice or standard of performance;
(b)
an amendment to a code of practice or standard of performance;
(c)
the revocation of a code of practice or standard of performance.[33/2020]
(5) A code of practice or standard of performance has no legislative effect.[33/2020]
(6) Subject to subsections (4) and (7), a person must comply with any code of practice or standard of performance that is applicable to that person.[33/2020]
(7) The Director-General may, either generally or for such time as the Director‑General may specify, waive the application to any person of any code of practice or standard of performance, or of any part of any code of practice or standard of performance.[33/2020]
Receipts, notices, etc., may be given by authorised officer
100.—(1) All notices, orders, receipts, warrants and other documents which the Director‑General is empowered to give by this Act may be given by any authorised officer.
(2) Where any such notice, order, receipt, warrant or document requires authentication, the signature or a facsimile thereof of the Director‑General or any authorised officer affixed thereto is sufficient authentication.
Furnishing of information required by Director‑General
101. The Director‑General may, by written notice, require the owner or occupier of any work place or work premises to furnish the Director‑General within 14 days or a longer period that may be specified in the notice any information required by the Director‑General for the purposes of this Act.
Saving of prosecutions under other laws
102. Nothing in this Act prevents any person from being prosecuted under any other written law for any act or omission which constitutes an offence under this Act or from being liable under that other written law to any other or higher punishment or penalty than that provided by this Act except that no person may be punished twice for the same offence.
General penalties
103. Any person who contravenes any of the provisions of this Act shall be guilty of an offence and, where no penalty is expressly provided, shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $5,000 and, in the case of a second or subsequent conviction, to a fine not exceeding $10,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 months or to both.
Offences by bodies corporate, etc.
103A.—(1) Where an offence under this Act committed by a body corporate is proved —(a)
to have been committed with the consent or connivance of an officer of the body corporate; or
(b)
to be attributable to any neglect on the officer’s part,
the officer as well as the body corporate shall be guilty of the offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.
[15/2014]
(2) Where the affairs of a body corporate are managed by its members, subsection (1) applies in relation to the acts and defaults of a member in connection with his or her functions of management as if he or she were a director of the body corporate.[15/2014]
(3) Where an offence under this Act committed by a partnership is proved —(a)
to have been committed with the consent or connivance of a partner; or
(b)
to be attributable to any neglect on the partner’s part,
the partner as well as the partnership shall be guilty of the offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.
[15/2014]
(4) Where an offence under this Act committed by an unincorporated association (other than a partnership) is proved —(a)
to have been committed with the consent or connivance of an officer of the unincorporated association or a member of its governing body; or
(b)
to be attributable to any neglect on the part of such an officer or member,
the officer or member as well as the unincorporated association shall be guilty of the offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.
[15/2014]
(5) In this section —“body corporate” includes a limited liability partnership which has the meaning given by section 2(1) of the Limited Liability Partnerships Act 2005;
“officer” —(a)
in relation to a body corporate, means any director, partner, member of the committee of management, chief executive, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the body corporate and includes any person purporting to act in any such capacity; or
(b)
in relation to an unincorporated association (other than a partnership), means the president, the secretary, or any member of the committee of the unincorporated association, or any person holding a position analogous to that of president, secretary or member of a committee and includes any person purporting to act in any such capacity;
“partner” includes a person purporting to act as a partner.[15/2014]
(6) The Minister may make regulations to provide for the application of any provision of this section, with any modifications that the Minister considers appropriate, to any body corporate or unincorporated association formed or recognised under the law of a territory outside Singapore.[15/2014]
Composition of offences
104.—(1) The Director-General may compound any offence under this Act which is prescribed as a compoundable offence by collecting from a person reasonably suspected of having committed the offence a sum not exceeding the lower of the following:(a)
one half of the amount of the maximum fine that is prescribed for the offence;
(b)
$5,000.[15/2014]
(2) On payment of the sum of money, no further proceedings may be taken against that person in respect of the offence.
(3) The Agency may, with the approval of the Minister, make rules to prescribe the offences which may be compounded and the method and procedure by which those offences may be compounded under this section.
(4) All sums collected under this section must be paid into the Consolidated Fund.[15/2014]
Inaccuracies in documents
105.—(1) No misnomer or inaccurate description of any person, premises, building, street or place named or described in any document prepared, issued or served under or for the purposes of this Act affects in any way the operation of this Act as respects that person or place if that person or place is so designated in the document as to be identifiable.
(2) No proceedings taken under this Act are invalid for want of form.
Jurisdiction of court
106. Despite any provision to the contrary in the Criminal Procedure Code 2010, a District Court and a Magistrate’s Court have jurisdiction to try any offence under this Act and have power to impose the full penalty or punishment in respect of any offence under this Act.
Evidence
107.—(1) The contents of any document prepared, issued or served under or for the purposes of this Act are, until the contrary is proved, presumed to be correct and the production of any book purporting to contain any apportionment made under this Act shall, without any other evidence, be received as prima facie proof of the making and validity of the apportionment mentioned therein.
(2) All records, registers and other documents kept by the Director‑General or by any public officer for the purposes of this Act are deemed to be public documents, and copies thereof or extracts therefrom certified by the officer responsible for the custody thereof to be true copies or extracts (as the case may be) and subscribed by the officer with his or her name and his or her official title are admissible in evidence as proof of the contents of the documents or extracts therefrom.
Forms
108. The Director-General may design and utilise any forms that he or she may think fit for any of the purposes of this Act, and may require any person to complete any of the forms for any such purpose.
Modification of provisions
108A. Sections 82, 85(3) and (4), 93(1), 94(1) and (2), 96, 97, 100, 101, 107 and 108 apply (so far as relevant) to anything done or required to be done under Parts 4 and 9 by the Director‑General, Food Administration —(a)
as if the reference in those provisions to the Director‑General includes a reference to the Director‑General, Food Administration;
(b)
as if the reference in those provisions to the Agency were a reference to the Singapore Food Agency;
(c)
as if the reference in those provisions to an authorised officer includes a reference to an authorised officer within the meaning of section 31W; and
(d)
with any other exceptions, modifications and adaptations that the differences between Part 4 and other Parts require.[11/2019]
[Act 7 of 2025 wef 28/11/2025]
Amendment of Schedules
109. The Minister may, from time to time, by notification in the Gazette, add to, alter or amend any of the Schedules.
Exemption
110.—(1) The Agency may, subject to the general or special directions of the Minister, either permanently or for such period as the Agency thinks fit, exempt any person, facility, system, premises or works, or any class of persons, facilities, systems, premises or works from any of the provisions of this Act, except Part 4.[11/2019; 33/2020]
[Act 7 of 2025 wef 28/11/2025]
(2) The Singapore Food Agency may, subject to the general or special directions of the Minister charged with the responsibility for food safety, either permanently or for such period as the Singapore Food Agency thinks fit, exempt any person or premises or any class of persons or premises from any of the provisions of Part 4.[11/2019]
[Act 7 of 2025 wef 28/11/2025]
Regulations
111.—(1) The Agency may, with the approval of the Minister, make regulations for or in respect of every purpose which the Minister considers necessary for carrying out the provisions of this Act, and in particular, without limiting the foregoing, for or in respect of all or any of the matters specified in the Third Schedule.
(1A) Regulations made under this section may make different provision for different classes, descriptions or types of persons, facilities, systems, premises or works.[33/2020]
(1B) Regulations made under this section may provide for —(a)
different prescribed components referred to in paragraphs (b) and (c) of the definition of “progressive wage model bonus” in section 2, in respect of cleaners, waste collection workers and waste disposal workers, respectively; and
(b)
different prescribed conditions referred to in sections 23A(1) and (2), 31AA(1) and (2) and 80H(1) for different classes of waste disposal licences, waste collector licences and cleaning business licences, respectively.[Act 5 of 2023 wef 01/07/2023]
(2) The Agency may, with the approval of the Minister, in making any regulations, prescribe the circumstances in which it is presumed that an offence under the provisions of any such regulations was committed.
(3) The Agency may, with the approval of the Minister, in making any regulations, provide that any contravention of, or failure or neglect to comply with any regulations shall be an offence and may prescribe the fine with which the offence shall be punishable, but so that no such fine shall exceed for any one offence the sum of $20,000 and, in the case of a continuing offence, the sum of $1,000 for every day or part of a day during which the offence continues after conviction.[15/2014]
(4) All regulations made under this Act (except section 42A) must be published in the Gazette and must be presented to Parliament as soon as possible after publication.[11/2019]
[Act 7 of 2025 wef 28/11/2025]
Validation of collection of fee or charge for late payment of fee or charge
111A. Every amount collected before the date of commencement of the Statutes (Miscellaneous Amendments) Act 2008 as, or purportedly as, a fee or charge for the late payment of any fee or charge under this Act shall be deemed to be and always to have been validly collected, and no legal proceedings shall lie or be instituted or maintained in any court of law on account of or in respect of any such collection.[Act 4 of 2008 wef 01/04/2024]
Source: Singapore Statutes Online (Attorney-General's Chambers), © Government of Singapore.
