Act binds Government
319.—(1) This Act binds the Government and applies in relation to every regulated activity undertaken by the Government for the service of the Government, with the modifications, and subject to the restrictions, specified in rules made by the Minister under subsection (3).
(2) For the purposes of this Act, every activity undertaken by the Government or any part thereof is treated as being made in the course of a business.
(3) The Minister may make rules in the Gazette prescribing such modifications or restrictions of any provision of this Act in its application to any regulated activity undertaken by any part of the Government for the service of the Government, as the Minister may consider necessary or expedient —(a)
in the interest of ensuring the efficiency or effectiveness of policies, programme management or service planning and delivery by that part of the Government; or
(b)
in the public interest of Singapore.
(4) However, nothing in this Act —(a)
renders the Government liable to prosecution for an offence under this Act; or
(b)
prevents a food security officer, an authorised officer, a food inspector, a Part 9 enforcement officer or an outsourced enforcement officer from exercising his or her powers or carrying out his or her duties under this Act.
(5) To avoid doubt, no person is immune from prosecution for any offence under this Act by reason only that the person is employed or engaged to provide services to the Government.
(6) For the purposes of this section —“part of the Government” includes a department, a Ministry or an Organ of State;
“regulated activity” means any of the following:(a)
the import, export or transhipment of any controlled item;
(b)
the undertaking of any primary production activity;
(c)
the carrying on of a food business;
(d)
the supply of food, or the handling of food intended for supply;
(e)
the production of animal feed;
(f)
the provision of non-packaged drinking water;
“undertaken”, by the Government or any part of the Government, includes undertaken by any person under the direction and control of the Government or part of the Government.
General exemption
320. The Minister may, by order in the Gazette, exempt any class of persons, food businesses, premises, food or activities from all or any provisions of this Act (except Part 9 or any Part 9 Regulations, any provision in Part 10 involving any Part 9 Regulations and Part 12), either generally or in a particular case and subject to any conditions that the Minister may impose.
Administrative exemption from Act
321.—(1) Subject to subsections (2) and (3), the Director‑General may exempt, for a period specified in the exemption —(a)
a particular person, food business, premises, food or activity from the operation of any provision of this Act where not provided in paragraph (b) or excluded by subsection (7); or
(b)
a particular licensed importer or a particular food business licensee from any requirement in section 87, 88, 89, 99, 100 or 101.
(2) An exemption under subsection (1)(a) must not be granted unless the Director‑General is personally satisfied that all of the following apply:(a)
the risk to public health of providing the exemption is negligible;
(b)
there are other sufficient safeguards under this Act or any other written law, or by other means, to minimise any risk to public health in providing the exemption;
(c)
there are requirements in other written law or there are other means that deal with the matter to be exempted besides the applicable requirements of this Act;
(d)
the exemption is necessary or desirable to avoid unnecessary restrictions on trade.
(3) An exemption under subsection (1)(b) must not be granted unless the Director‑General is personally satisfied that —(a)
there are other sufficient safeguards under this Act or any other written law, or by other means, to minimise any risk to public health in providing the exemption; and
(b)
the exemption is necessary or desirable to avoid unnecessary restrictions on trade,
after considering the factors in subsection (4).
(4) The factors for the purposes of subsection (3) are all of the following:(a)
the frequency and scale of the licensed importer or food business licensee’s operations;
(b)
the potential impact on consumers;
(c)
the kind of food supplied by the licensed importer or food business licensee;
(d)
the feasibility, effectiveness and efficiency of requiring the licensed importer or the proprietor of the licensable food business to comply with the requirement;
(e)
any other matters that the Director‑General considers relevant.
(5) An exemption under this section —(a)
must be in writing and given to the particular person concerned; and
(b)
need not be published in the Gazette.
(6) The power under subsection (1) is non‑delegable.
(7) An exemption under this section cannot extend —(a)
to any provision in Part 2 or Part 9 or the Part 9 Regulations, or any provision in Part 10 involving any Part 9 Regulations; or
(b)
to exempting from all provisions of this Act.
