PART I | Short title and commencement |
| 1. This Act may be cited as the Chemical Weapons (Prohibition) Act 2000 and shall come into operation on such date as the Minister may, by notification in the Gazette, appoint. |
2.—(1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires —“authorised officer” means —| (a) | the Director; | | (b) | any police officer; or | | (c) | any person appointed as an authorised officer under section 6(3); |
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| “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 13th 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; |
“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 such a 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 such 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); |
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| “Chemicals Annex” means the Annex on Chemicals to the Convention; |
| “conveyance” includes any vessel, train, vehicle, aircraft or other mode of transport; |
| “Director” means the Director for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons appointed under section 6(1) and includes any person appointed to act in the place of the Director during the temporary absence of the Director; |
| “export”, with its grammatical variations and cognate expressions, 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”, with its grammatical variations and cognate expressions, means to bring or cause to be brought into Singapore by land, water or air from any place which is outside Singapore but does not include the bringing into Singapore of any thing which 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; |
“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); |
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| “premises” includes any land, building, structure and conveyance; |
| “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 I 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 II 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 III 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. |
| (2) Any word or expression used and not defined in this Act but defined in the Convention shall, unless the context otherwise requires, have the same meaning as in the Convention. |
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| 3. This Act binds the Government. |
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 shall have regard to Singapore’s obligations under the Convention. |
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| Extra-territorial 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. |
| (1A) Where an offence under section 8 or 26 is committed outside Singapore by a citizen of Singapore, he may be dealt with in respect of that offence as if it had been committed within Singapore. [26/2001 wef 01/09/2001] |
| (2) Notwithstanding anything in any other written law, proceedings in respect of any offence under section 8 or 26 committed anywhere outside Singapore shall not, by virtue only of the provisions of this Act, be instituted in any court except with the consent of the Public Prosecutor. |
| (3) Notwithstanding subsection (2), 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 shall be taken until the consent of the Public Prosecutor has been obtained. |
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