Tobacco (Control of
Advertisements and Sale)
Act 1993
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 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.
[31 May 1993]
PART 1
PRELIMINARY
Short title
1.  This Act is the Tobacco (Control of Advertisements and Sale) Act 1993.
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;
“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 of the public 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;
“authorised officer” means any officer or person appointed under section 19;
“Authority” means the Health Sciences Authority established under the Health Sciences Authority Act 2001;
“chewing tobacco” means loose‑leaf tobacco, plug tobacco, twist tobacco or tobacco bits intended for chewing;
“Chief Executive” means the person appointed under section 15 of the Health Sciences Authority Act 2001 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 any form that is capable of immediate use;
“conveyance” includes any vessel, train, aircraft, vehicle, trailer or other mode of transport;
“emission” means any substance that is produced when a tobacco product is used;
“imitation tobacco product” means any of the products mentioned in section 16(1) or (2);
“licence” means an import and wholesale licence mentioned in section 18(1) or (2), or a retail licence mentioned in section 18(3);
“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;
“premises” includes any or part of any vacant land, building, conveyance or place in Singapore;
“publish”, in relation to an advertisement, includes to distribute, show, exhibit, display or broadcast by any form of communication or in any manner;
“retail outlet” means any shop, kiosk or stall in Singapore at which goods are sold or exposed for sale by retail;
“sell” includes —
(a)to barter or exchange; or
(b)to supply in circumstances in which the supplier derives a direct benefit, pecuniary or otherwise;
“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);
“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;
“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 2007;
“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 2007;
“trade mark” has the meaning given by section 2(1) of the Trade Marks Act 1998;
“unauthorised advertisement” means any advertisement described in section 3(1)(a), (b), (c) or (d), but not —
(a)a price list mentioned in section 3(2);
(b)an advertisement the publication of which is approved under section 3(6); or
(c)an advertisement published, or caused to be published, by a person exempted under section 22 from section 3(1);
“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;
“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.
[9/2016; 46/2017; 9/2019]
(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.
[46/2017]
PART 2
CONTROL OF ADVERTISEMENTS RELATING
TO TOBACCO PRODUCTS AND IMITATION
TOBACCO PRODUCTS
[9/2016]
Prohibition on advertisements relating to tobacco products and imitation tobacco products
3.—(1)  Subject to subsection (2) or (6), a person must not publish, or cause to be published, or take part in the publication, in Singapore, of any advertisement —
(a)containing any express or implied inducement, suggestion or request to purchase or to use any tobacco product or imitation tobacco product;
(b)providing a facility for a person accessing the advertisement on the Internet to purchase any tobacco product or imitation tobacco product;
(c)relating to any tobacco product or imitation tobacco product or its use in terms which are calculated, expressly or impliedly, to lead to, induce, urge, promote or encourage the use of the tobacco product or imitation tobacco product; or
(d)mentioning, illustrating or depicting —
(i)the name or trade name of any person associated or concerned with the manufacture, distribution or marketing of any tobacco product or imitation tobacco product;
(ii)a brand name of, or trade mark relating to, any tobacco product or imitation tobacco product; or
(iii)any pictorial device commonly associated with a brand name of, or trade mark relating to, any tobacco product or imitation tobacco product.
[9/2016]
(2)  Subsection (1) does not apply to an advertisement comprising only a price list that is of a prescribed description and is published in prescribed circumstances.
[9/2016]
(3)  A person who contravenes subsection (1) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction —
(a)to a fine not exceeding $10,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or to both, unless paragraph (b) applies; or
(b)if the person has any previous qualifying conviction, to a fine not exceeding $20,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to both.
[9/2016]
(4)  In subsection (3), “qualifying conviction” means —
(a)a conviction for an offence under subsection (3); or
(b)a conviction for an offence under section 3(1) as in force immediately before 1 August 2016.
[9/2016]
(5)  In any proceedings against a person for contravening subsection (1), it is not necessary for the prosecution to prove that the person knew or had reason to believe that the advertisement published is of a type described in that subsection.
[9/2016]
(6)  The Minister may approve, for such time and upon such conditions as he or she may think fit, the publication of an advertisement or class of advertisements which mentions or refers to the brand name associated with or the name or trade name of a person associated or concerned with the manufacture, distribution or marketing of a tobacco product or imitation tobacco product for the purpose of promoting or identifying any goods or services unconnected with any tobacco product or imitation tobacco product which are manufactured, distributed, marketed or provided by that person.
[9/2016]
(7)  Subsection (6) does not apply to any advertisement or class of advertisements which, directly or indirectly, leads to, induces, urges, promotes or encourages the use of any tobacco product or imitation tobacco product.
[9/2016]
(8)  Where any person fails to comply with any condition imposed by the Minister under this section, the Minister may cancel the approval in relation to which that condition was imposed.
(9)  Any application for approval under subsection (6) must be made in such form and with such particulars as may be determined by the Minister.
(10)  In this section, an advertisement that is published electronically is published in Singapore, if —
(a)the advertisement originates in Singapore, even if none of the persons capable of having access to the advertisement is physically present in Singapore; or
(b)all of the following apply in respect of the advertisement:
(i)the advertisement did not originate in Singapore, or the advertisement’s origin cannot be determined;
(ii)the advertisement is published or caused to be published by a Singapore‑connected person or the Singapore‑connected person takes part in that publication;
(iii)the advertisement is accessible by persons physically present in Singapore.
[9/2016]
Defences
4.  Where a person is charged with an offence for contravening section 3(1) in relation to an unauthorised advertisement, it is a defence for the person charged to prove, on a balance of probabilities, that —
(a)the person was acting in the course of a business of delivering, transmitting or broadcasting communications (in whatever form or by whatever means) or making data available, and the nature of the business is such that persons undertaking it have no control over the nature or content of the communications or data; or
(b)the person did not know and had no reason to believe that the advertisement was of a type described in section 3(1).
[9/2016]
Offences by owner and occupier
5.  Any person being the owner or occupier of any premises to which the public or any section of the public has access, on payment or otherwise, who knowingly permits or suffers such premises or any part thereof to be kept or used for the publication of any advertisement in contravention of section 3(1) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $5,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or to both and, in the case of a second or subsequent conviction, to a fine not exceeding $10,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to both.
Presumption relating to printed documents
6.  Where more than 10 copies of a notice, pamphlet, brochure or other printed document, containing an advertisement described in section 3(1)(a), (c) or (d), are found in the possession of or in premises occupied by a person who is associated or concerned with the manufacture, distribution or marketing of any tobacco product or imitation tobacco product associated with or related to the brand name, trade name or trade mark mentioned or depicted in the advertisement, the person is presumed, until the contrary is proved, to have taken part in the publication of the advertisement in contravention of section 3(1).
[9/2016]
Advertisements in newspapers published outside Singapore
7.—(1)  This Part does not apply to any advertisement described in section 3(1)(a), (c) or (d) (called in this section a relevant advertisement), if the advertisement is contained in a newspaper that —
(a)is printed or published outside Singapore;
(b)is brought into Singapore for sale, free distribution or personal use; and
(c)is not a newspaper of a class or description specified by the Minister by notification in the Gazette.
[9/2016]
(2)  Despite subsection (1), a person must not distribute or supply or cause to be distributed or supplied, whether free of charge or otherwise, any newspaper or printed matter containing any relevant advertisement which is printed or published outside Singapore and is brought into Singapore, if that newspaper or printed matter —
(a)forms part of, or is supplemental to, any newspaper that is printed or published in Singapore; and
(b)is supplied or distributed to any purchaser or subscriber of any newspaper that is printed or published in Singapore, whether or not the firstmentioned newspaper or printed matter is supplied or distributed at the same time as, or together with, the newspaper printed or published in Singapore.
[9/2016]
(3)  Any person who contravenes subsection (2) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $10,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or to both and, in the case of a second or subsequent conviction, to a fine not exceeding $20,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to both.
Advertisements not exempted
8.  Nothing in section 7(1) is to be construed as exempting from the provisions of this Act any unauthorised advertisement contained in any notice, circular, pamphlet, brochure or other printed matter or document which is not a newspaper within the meaning of this Act and which is printed or published outside Singapore and brought into Singapore for distribution solely or mainly for the purpose of announcing or commending the qualities of any brand of tobacco product or imitation tobacco product.
[9/2016]