Chemical Weapons (Prohibition)Act 2000

Chemical Weapons (Prohibition) Act 2000 2020 REVISED EDITION This revised edition incorporates all amendments up to and including 1 December 2021 and comes into operation on 31 December 2021 An Act to give effect to the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on their Destruction concluded at Paris on 13 January 1993. [1 June 2000] PART 1 PRELIMINARY Short title 1. This Act is the Chemical Weapons (Prohibition) Act 2000. Interpretation 2.—(1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires — “authorised officer” means — (a) the Director‑General; (b) any officer of customs; (c) any police officer; or (d) any person appointed as an authorised officer under section 6(3); “chemical weapon” means the following, together or separately: (a) a toxic chemical and its precursors, except where intended for a permitted purpose, as long as the type and quantity are consistent with that purpose; (b) a munition or device, specifically designed to cause death or other harm through the toxic properties of a toxic chemical referred to in paragraph (a), which would be released as a result of the employment of the munition or device; (c) any equipment specifically designed for use directly in connection with the employment of a munition or device referred to in paragraph (b); “Chemicals Annex” means the Annex on Chemicals to the Convention; “Convention” means the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on their Destruction concluded at Paris on 13 January 1993, and includes the Annexes to the Convention and any amendments to, or substitutions of, the Convention or the Annexes that are binding on Singapore; “conveyance” includes any vessel, train, vehicle, aircraft or other mode of transport; “Director‑General” means the Director‑General of Customs appointed under section 4(1) of the Customs Act 1960; “export” means to take or cause to be taken out of Singapore by land, water or air and includes the placing of any thing in a conveyance for the purposes of being taken out of Singapore but does not include the taking out of Singapore of that thing on the same conveyance on which it was brought into Singapore unless that thing after being brought into Singapore has been landed in Singapore; “import” means to bring or cause to be brought into Singapore by land, water or air from any place that is outside Singapore but does not include the bringing into Singapore of any thing that is to be taken out of Singapore on the same conveyance on which it was brought into Singapore without any landing in Singapore; “international inspector” means an individual designated by the Technical Secretariat according to the procedures set forth in the Verification Annex to the Convention to carry out an inspection or visit in accordance with the Convention, and includes any inspection assistant as defined in the Convention; “licence” means a licence granted under section 9; “national inspector” means any person who is a national inspector by virtue of, or appointed under, section 16; “officer of customs” means — (a) any Deputy Director‑General of Customs or Assistant Director‑General of Customs appointed under section 4(2) of the Customs Act 1960; (b) any senior officer of customs appointed under section 4(4) of the Customs Act 1960; or (c) any officer of customs appointed under section 5(2) of the Customs Act 1960; “permitted purpose” means — (a) in the case of a Schedule 1 chemical, research, medical, pharmaceutical or protective purpose; (b) in the case of any other toxic chemical — (i) industrial, agricultural, research, medical, pharmaceutical or any other peaceful purpose; (ii) any purpose directly related to protection against toxic chemicals and to protection against chemical weapons; (iii) any military purpose not connected with the use of chemical weapons and not dependent on the use of the toxic properties of chemicals as a method of warfare; or (iv) any law enforcement purpose (including domestic riot control); “premises” includes any land, building, structure and conveyance; “produce”, in relation to a scheduled chemical, means forming the chemical through a chemical, biochemical or biologically mediated reaction; and includes forming the chemical by any such reaction as an intermediate, a by-product or a waste product during the manufacture of any product, where the intermediate, by‑product or waste product — (a) is formed and consumed within a defined manufacturing sequence; and (b) is chemically stable and exists for a sufficient time to make its isolation from the manufacturing stream possible; but where isolation does not occur under normal or specially designed operating conditions; “Schedule 1 chemical” means a chemical listed in Schedule 1 of the Schedules of Chemicals in the Chemicals Annex, and is set out in Part 1 of the Schedule to this Act; “Schedule 2 chemical” means a chemical listed in Schedule 2 of the Schedules of Chemicals in the Chemicals Annex, and is set out in Part 2 of the Schedule to this Act; “Schedule 3 chemical” means a chemical listed in Schedule 3 of the Schedules of Chemicals in the Chemicals Annex, and is set out in Part 3 of the Schedule to this Act; “scheduled chemical” means a Schedule 1, 2 or 3 chemical; “transfer” includes import and export; “Verification Annex” means the Annex on Implementation and Verification to the Convention. [49/2007] (2) Any word or expression used and not defined in this Act but defined in the Convention, unless the context otherwise requires, has the same meaning as in the Convention. Act binds Government 3. This Act binds the Government. Purpose of Act 4.—(1) The purpose of this Act is to implement Singapore’s obligations under the Convention. (2) Every person exercising a power or discretion conferred under this Act must have regard to Singapore’s obligations under the Convention. Extraterritorial application 5.—(1) Sections 8 and 26 extend to acts done or omitted to be done outside Singapore by — (a) any citizen of Singapore; or (b) any other person on board any ship or aircraft registered in Singapore. (2) Where an offence under section 8 or 26 is committed outside Singapore by a citizen of Singapore, he or she may be dealt with in respect of that offence as if that offence had been committed within Singapore. (3) Despite anything in any other written law, proceedings in respect of any offence under section 8 or 26 committed anywhere outside Singapore must not, by virtue only of the provisions of this Act, be instituted in any court except with the consent of the Public Prosecutor. (4) Despite subsection (3), a person may be arrested, or a warrant for a person’s arrest may be issued and executed, and the person may be remanded in custody or on bail, but no further or other proceedings are to be taken until the consent of the Public Prosecutor has been obtained.