Human Cloning and Other Prohibited Practices Bill

Bill No. 34/2004

Read the first time on 20th July 2004.

An Act to prohibit the placing of a human embryo clone in the body of a human or an animal and certain other practices associated with reproductive technology.

Be it enacted by the President, with the advice and consent of the Parliament of Singapore, as follows:

PART I

PRELIMINARY

Short title and commencement

1. This Act may be cited as the Human Cloning and Other Prohibited Practices Act 2004 and shall come into operation on such date as the Minister may, by notification in the Gazette, appoint.

Interpretation

2.—(1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires —

“animal” does not include a human;

“Director” means the Director of Medical Services;

“enforcement officer” means the Director and any other public officer or any officer of any statutory authority who is appointed by the Director under section 4 to be an enforcement officer for the purposes of this Act;

“human embryo” means any live embryo that has a human genome or an altered human genome and that has been developing for less than 8 weeks since the appearance of 2 pro-nuclei or the initiation of its development by other means;

“human embryo clone” means any human embryo that is a genetic copy of another living or dead human, but does not include a human embryo created by the fertilisation of a human egg by human sperm;

“human sperm” includes human spermatids;

“prohibited embryo” means —

(a)	any human embryo that has been developing outside the body of a woman for a period of more than 14 days, excluding any period when the development is suspended;
(b)	any human embryo that was removed from the body of a woman by a person intending to collect a viable human embryo; or
(c)	such other thing as may be prescribed to be a prohibited embryo for the purposes of this Act;

“prohibited practice” means any of the practices prohibited under Part III.

(2) For the purposes of establishing that a human embryo clone is a genetic copy of another living or dead human —

(a)	it shall be sufficient to establish that the set of genes in the nuclei of the cells of the living or dead human has been copied; and
(b)	it shall not be necessary to establish that the copy is an identical genetic copy.

(3) For the purposes of the definition of “human embryo” in subsection (1), in working out the length of the period of development of a human embryo, any period when the development of the embryo is suspended shall be disregarded.

(4) For the purposes of the definition of “human embryo clone” in subsection (1), a human embryo that results from the technological process known as embryo splitting shall not be taken to be created by a process of fertilisation of a human egg by human sperm.

Act to bind Government

3. This Act shall bind the Government.

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