Singapore legislation
Section 65
Section 65
Warranty as defence
(1)
Subject to the following provisions of this section, in any proceedings for an offence under this Act in respect of a contravention of a provision to which this section applies, it is a defence for the accused to prove —
that the accused purchased the substance or article to which the contravention relates in Singapore as being a substance or article which could be lawfully sold or supplied or could be lawfully sold or supplied under the name or description or for the purpose under or for which the accused sold or supplied and with a written warranty to that effect;
that at the time of the commission of the alleged offence the accused had no reason to believe that it was otherwise; and
that the substance or article was then in the same state as when the accused purchased it.
(2)
This section applies to section 31(b), sections 32, 33 and 44 to 47 and the provisions of any regulations made under any of those sections.
(3)
A warranty is not a defence by virtue of this section unless the accused has, not later than 7 clear days before the date of the hearing, sent to the prosecution a copy of the warranty with a notice stating that the accused intends to rely on it and specifying the name and address of the person from whom the accused received it, and has also sent a like notice to that person.
(4)
Where the accused is an employee of the person who purchased the substance or article under the warranty, he or she is entitled to rely on this section in the same way as his or her employer would have been entitled to do if the employer had been charged with the offence.
(5)
The person by whom the warranty is alleged to have been given is entitled to appear at the hearing and to give evidence, and the court may, if it thinks fit, adjourn the hearing to enable the person to do so.
(6)
For the purposes of this section a name or description entered in an invoice is deemed to be a written warranty that the article or substance to which the name or description applies can be sold or supplied under that name or description by any person without contravening any provision to which this section applies.