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Poisons Act

(Chapter 234, Section 20(1))

Poisons Rules

R 1

G.N. No. S 94/1957

REVISED EDITION 1999

(1st January 1999)

[5th April 1957]

Citation

1. These Rules may be cited as the Poisons Rules.

Definitions

2.—(1) In these Rules, unless the context otherwise requires —

“animal” includes poultry;

“antimonial poisons” means chlorides of antimony, oxides of antimony, sulphides of antimony, antimonates, antimonites and organic compounds of antimony;

“arsenical poisons” means halides of arsenic, oxides of arsenic, sulphides of arsenic, arsenates, arsenites, copper aceto- arsenites, sodium thioarsenates and organic compounds of arsenic;

“British Pharmacopoeia” and “Pharmaceutical Codex” include the supplements and addenda thereto;

“codeine cough preparation” means any medicine in liquid form that contains codeine and is intended for the treatment of coughs;

[S 539/2008 wef 01/11/2008]

“food” includes a beverage;

“licensed importer” means an importer licensed under the Act;

“licensed person” means a person licensed under the Act;

“mercurial poisons” means oxides of mercury, mercuric salts and organic compounds of mercury;

“registered nurse” means a nurse whose name is included in any part of the register of nurses maintained under the Nurses and Midwives Act (Cap. 209);

“registered pharmacy” means a pharmacy registered under section 37 of the Medicines Act (Cap. 176);

[S 539/2008 wef 01/11/2008]

“sale by wholesale” means sale in any of the circumstances set out in section 8 of the Act;

[S 539/2008 wef 01/11/2008]

“sell by retail”, in relation to any poison, means to sell the poison otherwise than by wholesale.

[S 539/2008 wef 01/11/2008]

(2) In these Rules —

(a)	any reference to an alkaloid shall include a reference to any salt of that alkaloid and in a case where the esters of an alkaloid are included in the Poisons List by virtue of the words, “its esters”, to any ester of that alkaloid; and
(b)	any reference to medicines for the internal treatment of human ailments shall include any medicine to be administered by hypodermic injection but shall not include a reference to gargles, mouth-washes, eye-drops, eye-lotions, ear-drops, preparations for naso-pharyngeal use, and douches for rectal, vaginal or urethral use.

(3) Any reference in the Schedules to the percentage of a poison contained in any substance shall, unless otherwise expressly provided, be construed in the following manner, that is to say, a reference to a substance containing 1% of any poison means:

(a)	in the case of a solid, that one gramme of the poison is contained in every 100 grammes of the substance; and
(b)	in the case of a liquid, that one millilitre of the poison, or, if the poison itself is a solid, one gramme of the poison, is contained in every 100 millilitres of the substance,

and so in proportion for any greater or lesser percentage.

Licences

3.—(1) A licence to import, store and sell by wholesale poisons included in the Poisons List shall be in Form A of the Eighth Schedule.

(2) A licence to import and deal generally in poisons by wholesale and retail shall be in Form C set out in the Eighth Schedule.

Form of record of sales

4. The particulars of sales of poisons which are required by section 6 (3) (b) of the Act to be entered in a book shall be entered in Form D set out in the Eighth Schedule.

Wholesale sales

5.—(1) [Deleted by S 177/99 wef 01/04/1999]

(2) A person so licensed shall keep a record of the arrival and sale of poisons in a book or other form of record kept solely for that purpose but shall not be required to comply with section 6 (3) (b) of the Act.

(3) The record shall be kept in Form E set out in the Eighth Schedule or otherwise recorded in such manner as to provide all the particulars required in that Form.

(4) A person so licensed shall obtain an order in writing in accordance with rule 10 in respect of the sale of any poison and shall enter a reference to such order in the record kept in pursuance of paragraph (2).

6. [Deleted by S 177/99 wef 01/04/1999]

7. [Deleted by S 177/99 wef 01/04/1999]

Fees

8. The fees for licences under the Act shall be as set out in the Ninth Schedule.

Extension of labelling provisions

9. The provisions of section 6(2) of the Act and the provisions of these Rules relating to the labelling of poisons —

(a)	shall apply to the sale of any poison in the circumstances set out in section 8 (a), (c), (d), (e), (f) and (g) of the Act; and
(b)	shall also apply with respect to the supply of poisons (otherwise than by sale) in like manner as if references in those provisions to the sale and seller of poisons included references to the supply and supplier of poisons, respectively.

Limitation of section 6 (3) of Act to certain substances

10. Except as provided in section 8 of the Act, section 6(3) of the Act shall apply to all substances in the First Schedule (whether or not they consist of or contain poisons included in the Poisons List) and which are not specified in the Fifth Schedule.

[S 177/99 wef 01/04/1999]

Extension of section 6 (3) to section 8 of Act, sales and supply by commercial sample, and relaxation of this subsection

11.—(1) Section 6(3) of the Act as modified by rule 10 —

(a)	shall apply to sales exempted by section 8 of the Act except sales of poisons to be exported from Singapore to a place other than Malaysia; and
(b)	shall also apply to the supply in the form of commercial sample, otherwise than on sale, of any substance included in the First Schedule in like manner as if references to the sale and seller of poisons respectively included references to the supply and supplier of poisons in the form of commercial samples.

(2) So much of section 6(3) of the Act as requires an entry in a book to be signed by the purchaser of a poison shall not, as respects the sale of a poison to a person for the purpose of his trade, business or profession, apply if the following requirements are satisfied:

(a)	the seller obtains before the completion of the sale an order in writing signed by the purchaser stating his name and address, trade, business or profession, and the following particulars in regard to the article to be purchased, that is to say, the purpose for which it is required and the total quantity to be purchased, or, in the case of an article packed in ampoules, either the total quantity to be purchased or the total quantity intended to be administered or injected;
(b)	the seller is satisfied that the signature is that of the person purporting to have signed the order, that the person carries on the trade, business or profession stated in the order, and that it is one in which the poison to be purchased is used; and
(c)	the seller inserts in the appropriate entry in the record prescribed by rule 4 or 5 the words, “signed order” and a reference number by which the order can be identified.

(3) Where a person represents that he urgently requires a poison for the purpose of his trade, business or profession, the seller may, if he is reasonably satisfied that the person requires the poison and is, by reason of some emergency unable before delivery either to furnish to the seller an order in writing duly signed or to attend and sign the entry in the book, deliver the poison to the purchaser on an undertaking by the purchaser to furnish such an order within the next 24 hours.

(4) If the purchaser by whom any undertaking has been given under paragraph (3) fails to deliver to the seller a signed order in accordance with the undertaking, or if any person for the purpose of taking delivery of any poison under paragraph (3) makes a statement which is to his knowledge false, he shall be deemed to have contravened this rule.

(5) Where the seller of a poison is satisfied that the poison is required by way of wholesale dealing or for the purpose of medical, dental or veterinary treatment, there shall not apply —

(a)	in the case of a sale in any of the circumstances set out in section 8 (a) or (d) of the Act, such of the provisions of this rule as require the purchaser to state his trade, business or profession and the seller to be satisfied thereto; and
(b)	in the case of a sale in any of the circumstances set out in section 8 (a), (c) or (d) of the Act, such of the provisions of this rule as require the purchaser to state the purpose for which the poison is required.

Relaxation of section 7 (3) of Act in case of certain medicines

12. The requirements mentioned in section 7(3) of the Act need not be satisfied in the case of any medicine, not being a medicine consisting of or containing any substance included in the First Schedule, which is supplied by —

(a)	a medical practitioner for the purposes of medical treatment; or
(b)	a person licensed to sell any poison included in the Poisons List on and in accordance with a prescription given by a medical practitioner. [S 177/99 wef 01/04/1999]

Exemption from provisions relating solely to substances in First Schedule

13. Such of the provisions of these Rules and of the Act as apply solely to the substances included in the First Schedule, shall not apply to —

(a)	machine-spread plasters;
(b)	surgical dressings; or
(c)	articles containing barium carbonate and prepared for the destruction of rats and mice.

Complete exemption of certain articles and poisons

14. Nothing in these Rules or the Act shall apply to —

(a)	any article included in Group I of the Second Schedule;
(b)	any poison in the first column of Group II of the Second Schedule when contained in or consisting of the article or substance specified in the second column opposite the description of that poison; or
(c)	the import of any poison on account of the Government by any officer of the Government in the course of his duty.