PART I | Short title and commencement |
| 1. This Act may be cited as the Control of Plants Act 1993 and shall come into operation on such date as the Minister may, by notification in the Gazette, appoint. |
2. In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires —| “agricultural officer” means any officer appointed as an agricultural officer by the Director under section 3; |
| “certified pesticide operator” means a person who is certified as a pesticide operator under section 13; |
| “conveyance” includes any aircraft, vessel, train, vehicle or any other artificial contrivance, whether mechanically-propelled or otherwise used or capable of being used as a means of transport on land, water or air; |
| “Director” means the Director of Primary Production and includes the Deputy Director of Primary Production and the Director, Agriculture Division of the Primary Production Department; |
| “diseased” means attacked by or infected with any pest; |
| “fresh fruits and vegetables” means unprocessed and raw fruits and vegetables which are intended for human consumption; |
| “import”, with its grammatical variations and cognate expressions, means to bring or cause to be brought into Singapore by land, sea or air from any place which is outside Singapore but does not include the bringing into Singapore by land, sea or air (whether landed or transhipped in Singapore) for the sole purpose of being carried to any other country either by the same or another conveyance; |
| “label” includes any written, printed, pictorial or other descriptive matter; |
“land” includes —| (a) | the surface of the earth and all substances forming the surface; | | (b) | the earth below the surface and all substances therein; | | (c) | all vegetation and other natural products whether or not requiring the periodical application of labour for their production and whether on or below the surface; | | (d) | all things attached to the earth, or permanently fastened to any thing attached to the earth, whether on or below the surface; and | | (e) | land covered by water; |
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| “licensed grower” means a person who is issued with a licence under section 11; |
| “occupier”, in relation to any land, includes every person in actual possession, management or control thereof; |
| “owner”, in relation to any land, includes every lessee or tenant of the land; |
| “package” includes every means by which plants, plant products and pests are encased, covered, enclosed, contained or packed for conveyance from one place to another; |
| “pest” means any vertebrate or invertebrate animal (including the eggs of such animal), fungus, bacterium, virus or any other organism which is or is capable of being injurious or destructive to plants or plant products; |
| “pesticide” means any substance or mixture of substances prepared or used for preventing, destroying, repelling or mitigating any pest and any substance or mixture of substances prepared or used as a plant regulator, defoliant or desiccant; |
| “pesticide residue” means the remains of any substance resulting from the use of any pesticide, the level of which is prescribed by rules made under this Act; |
| “phytosanitary certificate” means a phytosanitary certificate referred to in section 29(1); |
| “plant” means any species of plant or any part thereof whether living or dead and includes any vegetable, fruit, flower, leaf, stem, branch, spore, seed, root, cutting, graft, scion and any other part whatsoever, whether severed or attached, intended for propagation or from which further plants may be propagated; |
| “plant product” means any product derived from plants, either in their natural, manufactured or processed form; |
| “premises” includes land; |
| “sell” includes offering or attempting to sell, or receiving for sale, or having in possession for sale, or exposing for sale, or sending or delivering for sale, or causing or allowing to be sold, offered or exposed for sale and “sale” has a corresponding meaning; |
| “soil” includes earth, water, peat, manure, compost, sand, clay and any other substance capable of supporting plant life, or transmitting any pest, whether or not used or intended to be used as a growing medium, or in any process of manufacture, or as ballast or for any other purpose whatsoever; |
| “supply” includes offering or attempting to supply or having in possession for supply or causing or allowing to be supplied; |
| “toxic chemical residue” means the remains of any chemical substance, other than pesticides, the level of which is prescribed by rules made under this Act; |
| “tranship” means to transfer from one conveyance to another conveyance for the purpose of export; |
| “treatment” means disinfection and disinfestation to ensure the removal, sterilisation or killing of any pest by appropriate means. |
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| Appointment of agricultural officers |
| 3. The Director may appoint such number of agricultural officers as he considers necessary for carrying out the purposes of this Act. |
| Officers deemed to be public servants |
| 4. All agricultural officers shall be deemed to be public servants for the purposes of the Penal Code (Cap. 224). |
| Officer to produce identification on request |
| 5. Every agricultural officer, when exercising any power under this Act, shall declare his office and shall, if requested by any person in relation to whom the power is sought to be exercised, produce such identification card as the Director may provide. |
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