CONTROL OF PLANTS (AMENDMENT) BILL

Order for Second Reading read. 5.12 pm

The Minister for National Development (Mr Lim Hng Kiang): Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, "That the Bill be now read a Second time."

The Control of Plants Act was enacted in 1994 to consolidate legislation relating to plants and plant products.

To fulfil Singapore's obligations under the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, or TRIPS Agreement, the Inter-Ministry Committee on the TRIPS Agreement recommended legislative amendments to various Acts including the Control of Plants Act. My Ministry and the Primary Production Department (PPD) have taken this opportunity to review and update the existing Act.

Sir, the main changes to the Act concern three areas:

One, regulating the import and transhipment of fresh fruits and vegetables to safeguard the health of humans;

Two, fulfilling Singapore's obligations under TRIPS and other WTO Agreements; and

Three, improving PPD's operational effectiveness.

I shall now go through and explain the rationale of the three main changes.

First, regulating the trade in fresh fruits and vegetables. To address increasing concerns about the safety of the food Singapore imports, the Bill enhances the powers of the competent authority to impose conditions on the transhipment and import of fruits and vegetables. Stringent controls are also necessary to protect Singapore's trade in plants and plant products.

Under the existing provisions of the Act, PPD has no legal power to impose or enforce any conditions on transhipment of fresh fruits and vegetables. This poses a potential health hazard as such products, although not meant for local consumption, may introduce harmful micro-organisms and pests into Singapore.

Examples of potential threats are E. coli 0157:H7, an organism causing severe food poisoning and the Mediterranean Fruitfly, an insect that is detrimental to our trade in fruits. To allow PPD to impose sanitary controls, clause 2 provides a new definition of "tranship" and clause 5 re-enacts Part II of the Act to require a person who wishes to tranship fruits or vegetables through Singapore to obtain a licence, and also a permit for individual consignments of fresh fruits and vegetables.

There is also a need to enhance the competent authority's control on imports of fruits and vegetables. New section 7 requires an import permit for individual consignments on top of the licensing requirement in the existing Act. With the two-tier control system of licences and permits, PPD will have the flexibility to impose and enforce conditions on both imports and transhipments.

Under new section 30, PPD can restrict an import or transhipment immediately by withholding the licence or permit in respect of sources of fruits and vegetables when evidence is received of any disease outbreaks or other hazards related to fruits and vegetables and which may be brought into Singapore through import or transhipment. This speed of action is necessary as the jet age has allowed goods to be transported between countries in a matter of hours.

Sir, I now turn to fulfilling Singapore's obligations to the various WTO Agreements. Mr Speaker, Sir, the next major feature is how to fulfil our obligations. Firstly, clause 6, incorporating new sections 15A and 15B, is proposed to comply with our obligations set out in Article 39 of the TRIPS Agreement. Under section 15A, the Director of Primary Production is obliged to take reasonable steps to protect certain confidential information received by him in relation to applications for registration of innovative pesticides and not to use the information to process other applications for registration of pesticides. Section 15B describes the circumstances where the obligations under section 15A do not apply.

Secondly, the new sections 30(4) and 31(A) have been introduced to fulfil Singapore's obligations under the WTO Agreement on Import Licensing Procedures.

The WTO Agreement on Import Licensing Procedures places certain obligations on WTO members with regard to the administration of import licensing procedures. These obligations are aimed primarily at promoting transparency and fairness. Section 30 requires the Director to provide the application with written reasons if he refuses to issue or renew the licence or permit applied for under the Act.

New section 31A allows any person aggrieved by the decision of the Director regarding the grant, renewal, suspension or revocation of a licence or permit, to appeal to the Minister.

Mr Speaker, Sir, my Ministry has also reviewed PPD's current operational needs. Clauses 9 and 15 will provide PPD the flexibility to carry out its operations with greater effectiveness.

To allow PPD to overcome resource constraints and focus its limited manpower on the critical areas, clause 9 proposes amendments to section 26 to provide PPD the flexibility to outsource less critical operations to the private sector. These operations include the inspection of plants and plant products for the issuance of phytosanitary certificates; and the analysis of imported fresh fruits and vegetables for contaminants.

The outsourcing of inspection for the issuance of phytosanitary certificates is allowed under the International Plant Protection Convention which is the reference point for the WTO on international standards, guidelines and recommendations on plant health. The United States has already taken advantage of this provision to introduce a scheme to accredit private companies to carry out such inspections.

With modern transportation methods allowing pests and diseases better chances of surviving international travel, another critical function of PPD is the prevention or the containment of any inadvertent introduction of pests and diseases that could be detrimental to our plant trade.

Operationally, PPD needs to enter private premises, such as farms, nurseries and warehouses to detect pests and, if need be, carry out eradication tasks. Based on data gathered, PPD would evaluate the impact on our trade in plants and plant products and decide whether import restrictions should be imposed and take remedial actions such as eradication operations. Early detection will provide us the opportunity to eradicate a pest before it is established.

Current legislation presumes the entry of private premises by authorised officers to carry out pest surveys. In practice, if permission is denied, no entry can be made. Section 20 of the Act is therefore amended to give PPD powers to enter any land or premises to conduct inspection surveys in order to ascertain the presence of pests and to gather the necessary data to determine the need, cost and scale of any pest eradication, control or quarantine actions to be taken.

However, to address possible abuse of such powers, certain safeguards have been built in. Firstly, the officer must be an "authorised" officer. Secondly, the inspections can only be done at reasonable times and only after giving a notice under the hand of the Director at least six hours before the intended exercise of the power. Thirdly, the inspecting officer must produce an identification card, when requested. The United States and Canada have similar laws to empower their officers to enter premises for pest surveys and inspection.

In summary, the Bill aims (1) to safeguard the health of Singaporeans with respect to fresh fruits and vegetables brought into Singapore and protect our plant trade through the control of pests; (2) fulfil Singapore's WTO obligations; and (3) allow PPD to overcome resource constraints and focus its resources on more critical areas.

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. - [Mr Lim Hng Kiang].

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