JOINT REGULATORY CONTROL OF SCHEDULED CHEMICAL WEAPONS CONVENTION (CWC) CHEMICALS
With effect from 21 August 2023, the National Environment Agency (NEA) and the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) will be co-regulating 47 scheduled CWC chemicals with Singapore Customs.
Existing Regulatory Control of Scheduled CWC Chemicals
2 Singapore Customs, as the National Authority for Chemical Weapons Convention (NA(CWC)), will continue to oversee Singapore’s international obligations towards the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). There is no change to the existing Singapore Customs’ licensing regime.
Enhancements to Regulatory Control of Scheduled CWC Chemicals
3 In addition to Singapore Customs’ regulatory requirements, NEA and SCDF will be administering domestic regulatory controls on safety and security by co-regulating the 47 scheduled CWC chemicals as Hazardous Substances (HS) under the Environmental Protection and Management Act (EPMA) and its Regulations, or as Flammable Materials (FM) under the Fire Safety Act (FSA) and its Regulations respectively:
a) NEA will co-regulate 35 of the 47 scheduled CWC chemicals as HS with Singapore Customs. Today, NEA is already co-regulating 9 CWC chemicals2 and will coregulate another 26 CWC chemicals as part of this regulatory change.
b) SCDF will co-regulate the remaining 12 of the 47 scheduled CWC chemicals as FM with Singapore Customs.
4 Companies that perform the following activities which exceed the exemption threshold quantities or purities must obtain a licence/permit:
a) Activities involving HS require a HS licence or permit for:
i. Import, export, manufacture, offer for sale, transport, storage and/or use –
Companies will be required to obtain a HS licence. In addition to a HS licence, a HS transport approval will be required for the transportation of HS, subject to the type of HS and its quantity per transportation.
1 The legislative amendments are gazetted by NEA and SCDF on 17 February 2023 and will take effect on 21 August 2023, factoring a 6-month transition period for the industry to prepare and comply with the regulatory changes.
2 The 9 chemicals that NEA is currently co-regulating with Singapore Customs are (1) Amiton, (2)Arsenic trichloride, (3) Phosgene, (4) Cyanogen chloride, (5) Hydrogen cyanide, (6) Chloropicrin, (7) Phosphorus oxychloride, (8) Phosphorus trichloride, and (9) Phosphorus pentachloride.
ii. Purchase, storage and/or use – Companies will be required to obtain a HS permit.
b) Activities involving FM require a P&FM licence for import, transport, storage or conveyance via pipeline.
5 Please refer to Annex A for details on the co-regulation of the 47 scheduled CWC chemicals, including the respective agencies, exemption criteria for licence/permit application and requirements for road transportation.
6 All HS and FM licence/permit holders will be subject to safety requirements imposed by NEA and SCDF respectively. Facilities storing scheduled CWC chemicals will also be subject to enhanced security requirements under the respective regulatory regimes. Agencies will reach out to the licensees of these facilities and if necessary, arrange for a joint site inspection with the Singapore Police Force (SPF) to thoroughly assess the adequacy of existing onsite security measures. The details on the licensing/permit/approval requirements may also be found on the NEA and SCDF websites respectively:
NEA https://www.nea.gov.sg/our-services/pollution-control/chemicalsafety/hazardous-substances
SCDF https://www.scdf.gov.sg/home/fire-safety/petroleum-and-flammablematerial-licences
7 To avoid any potential disruption to business operations, companies dealing with the scheduled CWC chemicals should consider applying for or amending their licences/permits/transport approvals from 1 March 2023 onwards. Applications can be submitted via GoBusiness at https://gobusiness.gov.sg. For SCDF’s import and pipeline licences, applications can be submitted via SCDF E-Services3 at https://eservices1.scdf.gov.sg.
Streamlining of TradeNet Import/Export Permit Declarations for Scheduled CWC Chemicals
8 Companies that are importing/exporting scheduled CWC chemicals shall continue to apply for the TradeNet import/export permit. Agencies will implement product code pairing for TradeNet import and export permit declarations for the jointly controlled chemicals using relevant Harmonised System Codes and Product Codes of Singapore Customs and NEA/SCDF. Detailed changes to the declaration process will be made known to traders and declaring agents in Q2 2023. In the interim, traders and declaring agents may continue to declare the import and export permit applications for these chemicals using existing Singapore Customs’ Product Codes.
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