Tobacco (Control of
Advertisements and Sale) Act
(CHAPTER 309)

(Original Enactment: Act 10 of 1993)

REVISED EDITION 2011
(15th July 2011)
An Act to prohibit advertisements relating to any tobacco product or its use, to control the use of tobacco products by young persons, to control the sale, packaging and trade description of tobacco products and for matters connected therewith.
[31st May 1993]
PART I
PRELIMINARY
Short title
1.  This Act may be cited as the Tobacco (Control of Advertisements and Sale) Act.
Interpretation
2.—(1)  In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires —
“access” includes —
(a)access that is subject to a precondition (such as, but not limited to, the use of a password);
(b)access by way of push technology; or
(c)access by way of a standing request;
[Act 9 of 2016 wef 01/08/2016]
“advertisement” includes any notice, circular, pamphlet, brochure, programme, price-list, label, wrapper or other document and any announcement, notification or intimation to the public or any section thereof or to any person or persons made —
(a)orally or in writing;
(b)by means of any poster, placard, notice or other document affixed, posted up or displayed on any wall, billboard or hoarding or on any other object or thing;
(c)by means of producing or transmitting sound or light and whether for aural or visual reception or both;
(d)by means of any writing on any vehicle, ashtray, calendar, cigarette-lighter, clock or any other object or thing; or
(e)in any other manner whatsoever;
[Deleted by Act 9 of 2016 wef 01/08/2016]
“authorised officer” means any officer or person appointed under section 19;
“Authority” means the Health Sciences Authority established under the Health Sciences Authority Act (Cap. 122C);
“chewing tobacco” means loose‑leaf tobacco, plug tobacco, twist tobacco or tobacco bits intended for chewing;
[Act 9 of 2016 wef 01/08/2016]
“Chief Executive” means the person appointed under section 15 of the Health Sciences Authority Act to be the Chief Executive of the Authority;
“cigarette” means any product which consists in whole or in part of cut, shredded or manufactured tobacco, or any tobacco derivative or tobacco substitute, rolled up in paper, tobacco leaf or other material and which is in such form as to be capable of immediate use;
[Act 46 of 2017 wef 01/01/2018]
“conveyance” includes any vessel, train, aircraft, vehicle, trailer or other mode of transport;
[Act 9 of 2016 wef 01/08/2016]
“emission” means any substance that is produced when a tobacco product is used;
“imitation tobacco product” means any of the products referred to in section 16(1) or (2);
[Act 9 of 2016 wef 01/08/2016]
“licence” means an import and wholesale licence referred to in section 18(1) or (2), or a retail licence referred to in section 18(3);
[Act 9 of 2016 wef 30/12/2017]
“newspaper” includes any magazine, journal, periodical or any other publication containing news, intelligence, information or reports of occurrences, or any remarks, observations or comments in relation either to such news, intelligence, information or occurrences or to any other matter of interest to the public or any section of the public, issued in any language at regular or irregular intervals;
“packaging”, in relation to any product or article, means any container and any other packaging material in which or with which the product or article is supplied, and includes —
(a)the box, carton, cylinder, packet, pouch, tin or other receptacle which contains the product or article;
(b)where any such receptacle is or is to be contained in one or more other receptacles, each of the other receptacles;
(c)wrapper or wrapping of any nature or form;
(d)any accompanying leaflet, brochure or other written material; and
(e)any written, printed or graphic representation that appears on or with, or is attached to, the product or article or any part of its packaging;
“point of sale” means an immobile cash register or counter at which a sale by retail may be made, and does not include a conveyance or vending machine;
[Act 9 of 2016 wef 01/08/2016]
“premises” includes any or part of any vacant land, building, conveyance or place in Singapore;
[Act 9 of 2016 wef 01/08/2016]
“publish”, in relation to an advertisement, includes to distribute, show, exhibit, display or broadcast by any form of communication or in any manner;
[Act 9 of 2016 wef 01/08/2016]
“retail outlet” means any shop, kiosk or stall in Singapore at which goods are sold or exposed for sale by retail;
[Act 9 of 2016 wef 01/08/2016]
“sell” includes —
(a)to barter or exchange; or
(b)to supply in circumstances in which the supplier derives a direct benefit, pecuniary or otherwise;
[Act 9 of 2016 wef 01/08/2016]
“Singapore‑connected person” means —
(a)a citizen or a permanent resident of Singapore;
(b)an individual in Singapore;
(c)a company or other body corporate incorporated in, or having its central management and control in, Singapore; or
(d)an unincorporated body established in Singapore,
and includes any person or persons constituting or responsible for the management of a person in paragraph (c) or (d);
[Act 9 of 2016 wef 01/08/2016]
“smoking” means inhaling and expelling the smoke of any tobacco product and includes the holding of any tobacco product which is alight or emitting smoke;
[Act 9 of 2016 wef 01/08/2016]
“tobacco product” means —
(a)a cigarette or cigar, or any other form of tobacco;
(b)a tobacco derivative;
(c)a tobacco substitute; or
(d)a mixture containing any form of tobacco or a tobacco derivative or tobacco substitute,
but does not include a therapeutic product registered under the Health Products Act (Cap. 122D);
[Act 46 of 2017 wef 01/01/2018]
“tobacco substitute” means any article, object or thing that contains nicotine, but does not include any of the following:
(a)a cigarette or cigar, or any other form of tobacco;
(b)a tobacco derivative;
(c)a mixture containing any form of tobacco or a tobacco derivative;
(d)a therapeutic product registered under the Health Products Act;
[Act 46 of 2017 wef 01/01/2018]
“trade mark” has the meaning given by section 2(1) of the Trade Marks Act (Cap. 332);
[Act 9 of 2019 wef 01/07/2019]
“unauthorised advertisement” means any advertisement described in section 3(1)(a), (b), (c) or (d), but not —
(a)a price list referred to in section 3(1A);
(b)an advertisement the publication of which is approved under section 3(2); or
(c)an advertisement published, or caused to be published, by a person exempted under section 22 from section 3(1);
[Act 9 of 2016 wef 01/08/2016]
“under-aged person” means —
(a)for 12 months after the date prescribed, an individual who is below 19 years of age;
(b)for 12 months after the end of the period in paragraph (a), an individual who is below 20 years of age; and
(c)at any time after the end of the period in paragraph (b), an individual who is below 21 years of age;
[Act 46 of 2017 wef 01/01/2018]
“use”, in relation to any tobacco product, means smoking, chewing, inhaling, ingesting or otherwise introducing the tobacco product or any of its constituents or emissions into the human body (whether by oral means or otherwise);
“writing” includes painting, inscription, printing, lithography, typewriting, photography and other modes of representing or reproducing words or figures in visible form.
[Act 9 of 2016 wef 01/08/2016]
(2)  For the purposes of this Act, a sale or a purchase, as the case may be, that is transacted online is regarded as a sale or a purchase in Singapore if, and only if, the purchaser is physically present in Singapore and the purchased product is intended to be delivered in Singapore.
[Act 46 of 2017 wef 01/02/2018]
[Act 9 of 2016 wef 01/08/2016]