Strategic Goods (Control)
Act 2002
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 control the transfer and brokering of strategic goods, strategic goods technology, goods and technology capable of being used to develop, produce, operate, stockpile or acquire weapons capable of causing mass destruction, and missiles capable of delivering such weapons; and for purposes connected therewith.
[1 January 2003]
PART 1
PRELIMINARY
Short title
1.  This Act is the Strategic Goods (Control) Act 2002.
Interpretation
2.—(1)  In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires —
“authorised officer” means —
(a)an officer appointed as an authorised officer under section 4; or
(b)an officer of customs within the meaning of section 3(1) of the Customs Act 1960;
“bring in transit” means to bring goods from any country into Singapore by land, water or air, where the goods are to be taken out from Singapore on the same conveyance on which they are brought into Singapore without any landing in Singapore, but does not include the passage through Singapore in accordance with international law of a foreign conveyance carrying goods;
“computer” has the meaning given by section 2(1) of the Computer Misuse Act 1993;
“conveyance” includes any vessel, train, vehicle, aircraft or other mode of transport;
“country” includes territory;
“development”, in relation to any goods, means any stage prior to the serial production of the goods, including design, design research, design analysis, development of a design concept, assembly and testing of a prototype, pilot production, generation of design data, the process of transforming design data into a product, configuration design, integration design, and layout;
“device” means any tangible medium in which information, visual images, sounds or other data is or are recorded, stored or embodied in any form so as to be capable (with or without the aid of other equipment) of being retrieved or produced therefrom;
“Director-General” means the Director‑General of Customs appointed under section 4(1) of the Customs Act 1960;
“export” means to take out from Singapore goods by land, water or air, and includes the placing of the goods in a conveyance for the purpose of taking the goods out from Singapore; but does not include the taking out from Singapore of goods that have been brought in transit or transhipped;
“foreign country” means a country other than Singapore;
“goods” means any movable or personal property but does not include choses in action or money;
“permit” means a permit granted under section 7;
“production”, in relation to any goods, means any stage of production of the goods, including construction, production engineering, manufacture, integration, assembly, mounting, inspection, testing, and quality assurance;
“registered” means registered under section 8;
“relevant activity” means —
(a)the development, production, handling, operation, maintenance, storage, detection, identification or dissemination of any nuclear, chemical or biological weapon; or
(b)the development, production, maintenance or storage of missiles which are capable of delivering any such weapon;
“senior authorised officer” means —
(a)an officer appointed as a senior authorised officer under section 4; or
(b)a senior officer of customs within the meaning of section 3(1) of the Customs Act 1960;
“software” means a collection of one or more programs or microprograms recorded, stored or embodied in any device;
“strategic goods” means any goods prescribed by the Minister as strategic goods under section 4A;
“strategic goods technology” means any technology prescribed by the Minister as strategic goods technology under section 4A;
“technology” means information (including information comprised in such documents as specifications, blueprints, plans, manuals, models, diagrams, formulae, tables and designs) that is necessary for the development, production or use of any goods, and includes software;
“through bill of lading”, “through airway bill” and “through manifest” mean a bill of lading, airway bill and manifest (respectively) for the consignment of goods from a place outside Singapore to a destination which is also outside Singapore without a consignee in Singapore;
“tranship” means to remove goods from the conveyance on which they were brought into Singapore and to place the goods on the same or another conveyance for the purpose of taking them out of Singapore, where these acts are carried out on a through bill of lading, through airway bill or through manifest;
“transmit”, in relation to any technology, means to —
(a)transmit it in Singapore by electronic means; or
(b)make it available in Singapore on a computer,
so that it becomes accessible (whether on a request, or subject to a precondition, or otherwise) to a person in a foreign country, whether the person is a specific person, a person within a specific class, any person in general or the person who carries out the transmission;
“use”, in relation to any goods, means the operation, installation, maintenance, inspection, repair, overhaul or refurbishing of the goods.
[45/2007; 3/2013; 9/2018]
(2)  For the purposes of the definition of the expression “bring in transit” —
(a)a conveyance is in passage through Singapore in accordance with international law if it passes through or above Singapore territorial waters or airspace without stopping or anchoring in Singapore except in a situation of distress; and
(b)a conveyance is a foreign conveyance if it is not registered in Singapore.
(3)  In this Act, a reference to a document includes, in addition to any document or record on paper, a reference to any, or part of any —
(a)document or record in an electronic form or kept on any magnetic, optical, chemical or other medium;
(b)photograph;
(c)map, plan, graph, picture or drawing; or
(d)device.
(4)  A reference in this Act to the value of goods or technology in respect of which an offence was committed is a reference to the value of the goods or technology at the time of the commission of the offence.
Act subject to section 9 of Arms and Explosives Act 1913
3.  This Act is subject to section 9 of the Arms and Explosives Act 1913.
Appointment of authorised officers and senior authorised officers
4.  The Minister may appoint any public officer or officer of a statutory body as an authorised officer or a senior authorised officer for the purposes of this Act or any particular Part or provision of this Act.
Strategic goods and strategic goods technology
4A.—(1)  The Minister may, by order in the Gazette, prescribe ––
(a)any military or dual-use goods as strategic goods for the purposes of this Act; or
(b)any military or dual‑use technology as strategic goods technology for the purposes of this Act.
[45/2007]
(2)  In subsection (1) ––
“dual‑use goods” means goods capable of being used for both a non-military purpose and a military purpose or relevant activity;
“dual‑use technology” means technology necessary for the development, production or use of any dual‑use goods;
“military goods” means goods solely or predominantly designed or modified for a military purpose, including any part or component thereof;
“military technology” means technology necessary for the development, production or use of any military goods.
[45/2007]