The Chemical Weapons (Prohibition) Act, Chapter 37B was enacted with the objective of providing the Singapore Government with the legislative framework required to fulfill Singapore's obligations under the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC). The Act was passed by Parliament on 25th April 2000 and assented to by the President on 8th May 2000. It was later revised in 31st December 2001.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) is the lead ministry of the Chemical Weapons (Prohibition) Act. It has designated Singapore Customs as the National Authority (NA) for the administration of the Act.
This Amendment Act was gazetted and came into effect on 14 Dec 07. In summary, the Amendment Act -
- designates the Director-General of Customs as administrator of the Chemical Weapons (Prohibition) Act;
- appoints all customs officers as authorised officers under the Chemical Weapons (Prohibition) Act;
- implements concentration limits to exempt certain chemicals from control, which is in line with the guidelines of the Chemical Weapons Convention. The Minister is empowered to prescribe the concentration limits;
- empowers the Minister to make regulations for appeals.
The Chemical Weapons (Prohibition) Regulations 2007 was gazetted and came into effect on 14 Dec 2007 to put in place a set of procedural guidelines for the administration of the Chemical Weapons (Prohibition) Act. Specifically, the Regulations spell out the conditions for licence approval, exemption for mixtures containing low concentrations of certain chemicals, and the requirement to submit reports to the Director-General of Customs pertaining to activities involving scheduled chemicals.
The Chemical Weapons (Prohibition) (Amendment) Regulations 2011 was gazetted and come into effect on 1 Nov 2011. The Regulations are updated to keep pace with the developments in the Chemical Weapons Convention. The amendment Regulations prescribe the transfer requirements on Schedule 2 and Schedule 3 chemicals, changes in the documents for submission of annual declarations, in the compoundable offences.