RUBBER DEALERS (AMENDMENT) BILL

Parliament of Singapore · 28 July 1987 · 6th Parliament

Official Report, 28 July 1987, Vol 49, Issue 13 · Open in the reader (summaries, search, filters)

Lee Hsien Loong

Order for Second Reading read.

The Minister for Trade and Industry (BG Lee Hsien Loong): Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, "That the Bill be now read a Second time."

Two separate agencies presently issue licenses for the rubber trade:

(a) The Land Office, which administers the Rubber Dealers Act, issues licences to purchase, to treat and to store rubber.

(b) The Rubber Association of Singapore (RAS), which administers the Rubber Industry Act, issues licences to pack and ship rubber and to manufacture technically specified rubber.

It would be more efficient for a single agency to be responsible for promoting and regulating the rubber trade in Singapore. This is, in fact, the mission of the Rubber Association of Singapore. The Government is therefore transferring the administration of the Rubber Dealers Act from the Land Office to the RAS.

Licensing procedures will also be simplified. In place of three separate licences to purchase, to treat and to store rubber, one new licence, a Rubber Dealer's Licence, will be issued. The $1,000 deposit for issuing this licence will be waived.

At the same time, the penalties will be enhanced in order that they remain a deterrent. The maximum fine for failing to comply with the provisions of the Act will be raised from $2,000 to $5,000 and for failing to comply with the rules made under the Act the fine will be raised from $100 to $1,000.

After the RAS takes over the administration of the Rubber Dealers Act, the revenue from the licence fees will be paid into the Singapore Rubber Fund established under the RAS (Incorporation) Act. Any revision of the licence fees will be approved by the Minister for Trade and Industry.

The Bill also introduces other minor consequential amendments to the Act to simplify licensing procedures.

Sir, I beg to move.

Question put, and agreed to.

Bill accordingly read a Second time and committed to a Committee of the whole House.

The House immediately resolved itself into a Committee on the Bill. - [BG Lee Hsien Loong].

Bill considered in Committee; reported without amendment; read a Third time and passed.

Source: Singapore Parliament Official Report (Hansard) for 28 July 1987. Republished on SGParliament.