Application of this Act to certain articles and substances
Open ↗54.—(1) The Minister may by order —(a)
specify any description or class of articles or substances appearing to the Minister to be articles or substances which are not medicinal products but are manufactured, sold, supplied, imported or exported for use wholly or partly for a medicinal purpose or for a cosmetic; and
(b)
direct that, subject to any exceptions and modifications specified in the order, such provisions of this Act as may be so specified (including provisions so specified which relate to offences or penalties) are to have effect in relation to articles or substances of that description or class as those provisions have effect in relation to medicinal products.
(2) An order under subsection (1) may —(a)
apply to any class or description of chewing gum that is intended for use in promoting dental health or oral hygiene; and
(b)
require the chewing gum to be sold or supplied by prescription or by or under the supervision of a pharmacist.[26/2004]
(3) In this section, “cosmetic” means any article intended to be rubbed, poured, sprinkled or sprayed on, or introduced into, or otherwise applied to, the human body or any part thereof for cleansing, beautifying, promoting attractiveness or altering the appearance, and includes a deodorant or any depilatory substance but does not include a soap.
Application of this Act to certain other substances which are not medicinal products
Open ↗55. The Minister may by order specify any substance appearing to the Minister to be a substance which is not itself a medicinal product but —(a)
is used as an ingredient in the manufacture of medicinal products; or
(b)
if used without proper safeguards, is capable of causing danger to the health of the community, or of causing danger to the health of animals generally or of one or more species of animals,
and direct that, subject to such exceptions and modifications as may be specified in the order, such provisions of this Act as may be so specified (including any provisions so specified which relate to offences or penalties) are to have effect in relation to that substance as those provisions have effect in relation to medicinal products.
Rights of entry
Open ↗56.—(1) Any person duly authorised in writing by the licensing authority may at any reasonable time —(a)
enter any premises for the purpose of ascertaining whether there is or has been, on or in connection with those premises, any contravention of any provisions of this Act or of any regulations or orders made under this Act;
(b)
enter any premises generally for the purposes of the performance by the authority of the authority’s functions under this Act or under any regulations or orders made under this Act; or
(c)
enter any ship, aircraft, hovercraft or vehicle for the purpose of ascertaining whether there is in the ship, aircraft, hovercraft or vehicle any substance or article imported in contravention of any provisions of this Act or of any regulations or orders made under this Act.
(2) Without limiting subsection (1), any person duly authorised in writing by the licensing authority may at any reasonable time enter any premises occupied by an applicant for a licence or certificate or for renewal thereof under Part 2 for the purpose of verifying any statement contained in the application for the licence or certificate.
Power to inspect, take samples and seize goods and documents
Open ↗57.—(1) For the purpose of ascertaining whether there is or has been a contravention of this Act or any regulations or orders made under this Act, any person duly authorised in writing by the licensing authority (called in this section an authorised person) may inspect —(a)
any substance or article appearing to the authorised person to be a medicinal product;
(b)
any article appearing to the authorised person to be a container or package used or intended to be used to contain any medicinal product or to be a label or leaflet used or intended to be used in connection with a medicinal product; or
(c)
any plant or equipment appearing to the authorised person to be used or intended to be used in connection with the manufacture or assembly of medicinal products, and any process of manufacture or assembly of any medicinal products and the means employed, at any stage in the processes of manufacture or assembly, for testing the materials after they have been subject to those processes.
(2) Where for the purpose specified in subsection (1) an authorised person requires a sample of any substance or article appearing to the authorised person to be —(a)
a medicinal product sold or supplied or intended to be sold or supplied; or
(b)
a substance or article used or intended to be used in the manufacture of a medicinal product,
the authorised person may take a sample of that substance or article.
(3) For the purpose specified in subsection (1), an authorised person may —(a)
require any person carrying on a business which consists of or includes the manufacture, assembly, sale or supply of medicinal products, and any person employed in connection with such a business, to produce any books or documents relating to the business which are in that person’s possession or under that person’s control; and
(b)
take copies of, or of any entry in, any book or document produced pursuant to paragraph (a).
(4) An authorised person may seize and detain any substance or article which he or she has reasonable cause to believe to be a substance or article in relation to which, or by means of which, an offence under this Act is being or has been committed, and any document which he or she has reasonable cause to believe to be a document which may be required as evidence in proceedings under this Act.
(5) An authorised person may, so far as is reasonably necessary in order to secure that the provisions of this Act and any regulations or orders made under this Act are duly observed, require any person having authority to do so to break open any container or package or open any vending machine, or to permit the authorised person to do so.
(6) Where an authorised person seizes any substance or article (including any document) under subsection (4), that authorised person must inform the person from whom it is seized, and, in the case of anything seized from a vending machine, the person whose name and address are stated on the machine as being those of the owner of the machine, or, if no name and address are so stated, the occupier of the premises on which the machine stands or to which it is affixed.
(7) The Minister may by regulations prescribe the procedure for the sampling of articles and substances seized under this section.
Supplementary provisions as to rights of entry and related rights
Open ↗58.—(1) Any person entering any property (that is to say, any premises, ship, aircraft, vehicle, stall or place) by virtue of section 56 may take with the person such other persons and such equipment as may appear to the person to be necessary.
(2) Any person who —(a)
wilfully obstructs a person acting pursuant to this Act and duly authorised so to act by the licensing authority; or
(b)
wilfully fails to comply with any requirement properly made to the person by a person so acting under section 57; or
(c)
without reasonable cause fails to give to a person so acting any other assistance or information which that person may reasonably require of him or her for the purpose of the performance of his or her functions under this Act,
shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $2,000.
(3) If a person, in giving any such information as mentioned in subsection (2)(c), makes any statement which the person knows to be false, the person shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $5,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years or to both.
Seizure or detention of goods subject to prohibition or restriction
Open ↗59.—(1) Any imported goods are deemed to be imported contrary to a prohibition or restriction for the time being in force with respect to them if —(a)
they are medicinal products or medicinal substances of any description or falling within a class specified in an order made by the Minister for the purposes of this section; and
(b)
they are imported in the circumstances specified in that order.
(2) Any exported goods are deemed to be exported contrary to a prohibition or restriction for the time being in force with respect to them if —(a)
they are medicinal products or medicinal substances of any description or falling within a class specified in an order made by the Minister for the purposes of this section; and
(b)
they are exported in the circumstances specified in that order.
(3) An officer of customs or police officer may seize and detain any goods subject to a prohibition or restriction imposed by an order made under this section.
Forfeiture of goods seized
Open ↗60.—(1) Whenever any goods are seized under this Act, the seizing officer must forthwith give written notice of the seizure to the owner of the goods, if known, either by delivering the notice to the owner personally or by post at the owner’s place of residence if known:Provided that the notice is not required to be given where the seizure is made in the presence of the offender or the owner or the owner’s agent, or in the case of a ship or aircraft, in the presence of the master or captain thereof.
(2) An order for the forfeiture of any goods is to be made if it is proved to the satisfaction of a court that an offence under this Act has been committed and that the goods were the subject matter of or was used in the commission of the offence even though no person may have been convicted of that offence.
(3) If there is no prosecution with regard to any goods seized under this Act the goods are deemed to be forfeited at the expiry of one month from the date of the seizure of the goods unless a claim to the goods has been made before that date in the manner prescribed.
Disposal of goods forfeited
Open ↗61.—(1) All goods which are forfeited under this Act must be disposed of in the manner that the licensing authority thinks fit.[4/2001]
(2) The licensing authority may, after any proceedings under this Act are concluded, entertain and give effect to any claim to or in respect of goods which have been forfeited under this Act.[4/2001]
Restrictions on disclosure of information
Open ↗62.—(1) If any person discloses to any other person —(a)
any information with respect to any manufacturing process or trade secret obtained by the firstmentioned person in premises which the firstmentioned person has entered by virtue of section 56; or
(b)
any information obtained by or furnished to the firstmentioned person pursuant to this Act,
the firstmentioned person shall, unless the disclosure was made in the performance of the firstmentioned person’s duty, be guilty of an offence.
(2) Any person guilty of an offence under this section shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $5,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years or to both.
Protection for officers
Open ↗63. No person shall be personally liable in respect of any act done by that person in the execution or purported execution of this Act and within the scope of his or her employment if he or she did it in the honest belief that his or her duty under this Act required or entitled him or her to do it.
Contravention due to default of other person
Open ↗64.—(1) Where a contravention by any person of any provision to which this section applies constitutes an offence under this Act, and is due to an act or default of another person, then whether proceedings are taken against the firstmentioned person or not, that other person may be charged with and convicted of that offence and shall be liable on conviction to the same punishment as might have been imposed on the firstmentioned person if the firstmentioned person had been convicted of the offence.
(2) Where a person who is charged with an offence under this Act in respect of a contravention of a provision to which this section applies proves to the satisfaction of the court —(a)
that the person exercised all due diligence to secure that the provision in question would not be contravened; and
(b)
that the contravention was due to the act or default of another person,
the firstmentioned person must be acquitted of the offence.
(3) This section applies to sections 31 to 33, 44 to 47 and 50 to 52 and the provisions of any regulations made under any of those sections.
Warranty as defence
Open ↗65.—(1) Subject to the following provisions of this section, in any proceedings for an offence under this Act in respect of a contravention of a provision to which this section applies, it is a defence for the accused to prove —(a)
that the accused purchased the substance or article to which the contravention relates in Singapore as being a substance or article which could be lawfully sold or supplied or could be lawfully sold or supplied under the name or description or for the purpose under or for which the accused sold or supplied and with a written warranty to that effect;
(b)
that at the time of the commission of the alleged offence the accused had no reason to believe that it was otherwise; and
(c)
that the substance or article was then in the same state as when the accused purchased it.
(2) This section applies to section 31(b), sections 32, 33 and 44 to 47 and the provisions of any regulations made under any of those sections.
(3) A warranty is not a defence by virtue of this section unless the accused has, not later than 7 clear days before the date of the hearing, sent to the prosecution a copy of the warranty with a notice stating that the accused intends to rely on it and specifying the name and address of the person from whom the accused received it, and has also sent a like notice to that person.
(4) Where the accused is an employee of the person who purchased the substance or article under the warranty, he or she is entitled to rely on this section in the same way as his or her employer would have been entitled to do if the employer had been charged with the offence.
(5) The person by whom the warranty is alleged to have been given is entitled to appear at the hearing and to give evidence, and the court may, if it thinks fit, adjourn the hearing to enable the person to do so.
(6) For the purposes of this section a name or description entered in an invoice is deemed to be a written warranty that the article or substance to which the name or description applies can be sold or supplied under that name or description by any person without contravening any provision to which this section applies.
Offences in relation to warranties
Open ↗66.—(1) If an accused in any such proceedings as are mentioned in section 65(1) wilfully applies to any substance or article a warranty given in relation to a different substance or article the accused shall be guilty of an offence.
(2) A person who, in respect of any substance or article sold by the person in respect of which a warranty might be pleaded under section 65, gives to the purchaser a false warranty in writing shall be guilty of an offence, unless the person proves that when the person gave the warranty the person had reason to believe that the statement or description contained in it was accurate.
(3) Any person guilty of an offence under this section shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $5,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years or to both.
Offences by bodies corporate
Open ↗67. Where an offence under this Act committed by a body corporate is proved to have been committed with the consent and connivance of, or to be attributable to any neglect 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.
Certificate of analysis
Open ↗68. In any proceedings under this Act a certificate of analysis purporting to be signed by an analyst is, on its production by the prosecution without proof of the signature of the analyst, sufficient evidence of the facts stated in the certificate until the contrary is proved.
Presumptions
Open ↗69.—(1) For the purposes of any proceedings under this Act for an offence consisting of —(a)
offering a medicinal product for sale by retail in contravention of section 24 or any conditions prescribed for the purpose of section 25; or
(b)
offering a medicinal product for sale in contravention of section 31(b),
where it is proved that the medicinal product in question was found on a vehicle or stall from which medicinal products are sold, it is presumed, unless the contrary is proved, that the person in charge of the vehicle or stall offered that medicinal product for sale and, in a case falling within paragraph (a), that the person offered it for sale by retail.
(2) For the purposes of any proceedings under this Act for an offence consisting of a contravention of so much of any provision to which this subsection applies as relates to a person having any medicinal product in the person’s possession for the purpose of sale or supply, where it is proved that the medicinal product in question was found in any premises occupied by the person charged with the offence or under that person’s control, it is presumed, unless the contrary is proved, that that person had that medicinal product in that person’s possession for the purpose of sale or supply.
(3) Subsection (2) applies to sections 31(b), 44(2) and (4), 46(2) and 47(3).
(4) For the purposes of any proceedings under this Act for an offence consisting of a contravention of section 45(2) or (3), as relates to leaflets, where it is proved that the leaflet in question was found in any premises occupied by the person charged with the offence or under the person’s control, it is presumed, unless the contrary is proved, that the person had the leaflet in the person’s possession for the purpose of supplying it with a medicinal product.
Service of documents
Open ↗70. Any notice or other document required or authorised by any provision of this Act to be served on any person, or to be given or sent to any person, may be served, given or sent —(a)
by delivering it to that person;
(b)
by sending it by post to that person at that person’s usual or last known residence or place of business in Singapore; or
(c)
in the case of a body corporate, by delivering it to the secretary of the body corporate at its registered or principal office or sending it by post to the secretary of that body corporate at the office.
Jurisdiction of District and Magistrate’s Courts
Open ↗71. Despite anything to the contrary contained in the Criminal Procedure Code 2010, a District Court or Magistrate’s Court has jurisdiction to try any offence under this Act and to impose the full penalty or punishment in respect of any such offence.
Composition of offences
Open ↗72. The licensing authority may compound any offence under this Act or any regulations made under this Act by accepting from the person reasonably suspected of having committed the offence a sum not exceeding $2,000.
Fees, charges, etc., collected by licensing authority to be paid to appropriate Authority
Open ↗72A. All fees, charges and other moneys recovered or collected by the licensing authority under this Act or any regulations made under this Act (including sums collected for the composition of offences under section 72) must be paid —(a)
in the case where the licensing authority is the Chief Executive of the Authority, to the Authority; and
(b)
in the case where the licensing authority is the Director‑General, Animal Health and Welfare, to the National Parks Board established by the repealed National Parks Act (Cap. 198A, 1991 Revised Edition) as in force before 1 July 1996 and continued by section 3 of the National Parks Board Act 1996.[4/2001; 10/2019]
Advisory committees
Open ↗73. The Minister may establish one or more advisory committees consisting of such members as the Minister may appoint for the purpose of giving advice to the licensing authority with regard to such matters arising out of the administration of this Act as are referred to them by the Minister.
Regulations
Open ↗74.—(1) The Minister may make regulations for any purpose for which regulations are authorised or required to be made under this Act and generally for carrying out the purposes and provisions of this Act.
(2) Without limiting subsection (1), regulations made under this Act may —(a)
prescribe fees for the grant or renewal of licences and certificates;
(b)
prescribe standard provisions for licences and certificates either in respect of medicinal products generally or any class of medicinal products;
(c)
provide for the registration of premises, other than pharmacies, used for the purpose of the retail sale, storage or supply of medicinal products; and
(d)
provide that any person who contravenes the regulations shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $5,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years or to both.
Application of other written law not affected
Open ↗75. Except as expressly provided in this Act, this Act does not limit or affect in any way the provisions or operation of any other written law relating to any matter which may be dealt with in this Act.
Repeal and consequential amendments
Open ↗76.—(1) [Deleted by Act 31 of 2022 wef 01/11/2022]Second Schedule
(2) The Poisons Act 1938 is amended in the manner set out in the Second Schedule.
(2) The Poisons Act 1938 is amended in the manner set out in the Second Schedule.
Act not to apply to products categorised and regulated as health products under Health Products Act 2007
Open ↗77.—(1) Where any product to which this Act applies has been categorised as a type of health product under the Health Products Act 2007, the Minister may, by order in the Gazette, declare that the provisions of this Act cease to apply to that type of product as from the date specified in the order, and the provisions of this Act, as from the date so specified, cease to apply to that type of product.[15/2007]
(2) The Minister may, in making any order under subsection (1), prescribe such transitional, saving and other consequential provisions as the Minister may consider necessary or expedient.[15/2007]
Source: Singapore Statutes Online (Attorney-General's Chambers), © Government of Singapore.
