PART I | Short title and commencement |
| 1. This Act may be cited as the Endangered Species (Import and Export) Act 2005 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 ––“advertise”, in relation to a scheduled species, means to describe, make reference to or allude in any way, by any means or in any form, to that scheduled species —| (a) | whether directly or indirectly; | | (b) | whether orally, in writing in any language, diagrammatically, pictorially, by the use of symbols or photographs, or in any combination thereof; and | | (c) | whether by the common name or the scientific name of that scheduled species or otherwise; |
|
“animal” means any member of the Animal Kingdom, and includes — | (a) | any mammal (other than man), bird, reptile, amphibian, fish, mollusc, arthropod, or other vertebrate or invertebrate, whether alive or dead, and the egg, young or immature form thereof; and | | (b) | any readily recognisable part or derivative of an animal; |
|
“authorised officer” means —| (a) | any police officer; | | (b) | any officer of customs within the meaning of the Customs Act (Cap. 70); or | | (c) | any public officer or officer of the Authority or of any other statutory authority appointed by the Director-General under section 3(2); |
|
| “Authority” means the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority established under section 3 of the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority Act (Cap. 5); |
| “CITES” means the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora signed in Washington, D. C., on 3rd March 1973, and any amendment to, or substitution of, the Convention that is binding on Singapore; |
| “conveyance” includes any vessel, aircraft, vehicle or mode of transport; |
| “Director-General” means the Director-General, Agri-Food and Veterinary Services appointed under section 3(1) of the Animals and Birds Act (Cap. 7); |
| “export” means to take or cause to be taken out of Singapore by land, sea or air any scheduled species other than any scheduled species in transit in Singapore, but does not include re-export; |
| “import” means to bring or cause to be brought into Singapore by land, sea or air any scheduled species other than any scheduled species in transit in Singapore; |
| “information” includes data, text, images, sound, codes, computer programmes, software and databases; |
| “introduction from the sea” means transportation into Singapore of any scheduled species which was taken in the marine environment not under the jurisdiction of any State; |
| “owner” includes any person for the time being in charge of any scheduled species and any person for the time being in occupation of any premises; |
| “permit” means a permit, licence, certificate or written permission issued by the Director-General under section 7(2) or deemed to be issued under section 31; |
| “plant” means any member of the Plant Kingdom, whether live or dead, and any readily recognisable part or derivative of a plant; |
| “premises” includes any house, hut, shed, structure, platform, path, bridge, open space, building or enclosure whether roofed or not; |
“readily recognisable part or derivative of a plant” means any substantially complete or part or derivative of a plant, in natural form, preserved, dried or otherwise treated or prepared which may or may not be contained in preparations, and includes –– | (a) | seed, stem, leaf, bark, root, log, flower, fruit or pod; and | | (b) | any thing which is claimed by any person, or which appears from an accompanying document, the packaging, a label or mark or from any other circumstances, to contain a part or derivative of a plant; |
|
“readily recognisable part or derivative of an animal” means any substantially complete or part or derivative of an animal, in natural form, stuffed, chilled, preserved, dried or otherwise treated or prepared which may or may not be contained in preparations, and includes –– | (a) | meat, bones, hide, skin, leather, tusk, horn, antler, gland, feathers, hair, teeth, claws, shell, scales and eggs; and | | (b) | any thing which is claimed by any person, or which appears from an accompanying document, the packaging, a label or mark or from any other circumstances, to contain a part or derivative of an animal; |
|
| “re-export” means the export of any scheduled species that has previously been imported; |
| “sale” or “sell” includes barter or exchange; |
| “sample”, in relation to a scheduled species, means the scheduled species or any part thereof; |
| “scheduled species” means any animal or plant (including any readily recognisable part or derivative thereof) specified in the Schedule. |
(2) For the purposes of this Act, a scheduled species shall be considered to be in transit if, and only if, it is brought into Singapore solely for the purpose of taking it out of Singapore and —| (a) | it remains at all times in or on the conveyance in or on which it is brought into Singapore; | | (b) | it is removed from the conveyance in or on which it was brought into Singapore and either returned to the same conveyance or transferred directly to another conveyance before being despatched to a place outside Singapore, and is kept under the control of the Director-General or an authorised officer while being so removed, returned or transferred; or | | (c) | it is removed from the conveyance in or on which it was brought into Singapore and kept under the control of the Director-General or an authorised officer for a period not exceeding 14 days, or such longer period as the Director-General may approve, pending despatch to a place outside Singapore. |
|
|
| Administration of Act and appointment of authorised officer, etc. |
3.—(1) The Director-General shall be responsible for the administration of this Act, subject to the general or special directions of the Minister.| (2) The Director-General may in writing appoint any public officer or any officer of the Authority or of any other statutory authority to be an authorised officer for the purposes of this Act. |
| (3) The Director-General may delegate to any authorised officer the exercise of all or any of the powers conferred or duties imposed upon him by this Act except the power of delegation by this subsection. |
|
|
