Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority Bill

“accreditation, certification or inspection mark” means any accreditation, certification or inspection mark of the Authority specified under section 12(q);

“agri-food and veterinary sectors” means the sectors connected with the supply of primary foods and ornamental fish and plants, safety of primary foods, veterinary public health, fisheries, aquaculture, horticulture, animal health, fish health, plant health, veterinary medicine, veterinary science, agriculture science, agri-biotechnology, agrotechnology, animal welfare, feeding stuffs, trade in endangered species, protection of wild animals and birds, and includes the farming, cultivation, keeping, rearing, holding, catching, harvesting, processing and trading of animals, birds, plants, fish, reptiles, amphibians, molluscs, crustaceans, and any form of aquatic life, including their young, eggs and products derived therefrom;

“appointed day” means the date of commencement of this Act;

“Authority” means the Agri-food and Veterinary Authority established under section 3;

“Chairman” means the Chairman of the Authority and includes a temporary Chairman of the Authority;

“Chief Executive” means the Chief Executive of the Authority appointed under section 15 and includes any person acting in that capacity;

“Deputy Chairman” means the Deputy Chairman of the Authority and includes a temporary Deputy Chairman of the Authority;

“member” means a member of the Authority and includes a temporary member of the Authority;

“primary food” includes any meat and meat product, fish and fish product, egg, raw milk, fruit and vegetable.

The Authority shall, in every financial year, prepare and adopt annual estimates of income and expenditure of the Authority for the ensuing financial year.

Supplementary estimates of expenditure may be adopted by the Authority.

A copy of all annual and supplementary estimates shall, upon their adoption by the Authority, be sent to the Minister who may approve or disallow any item or portion of any item shown in the estimates, and shall return the estimates as amended by him to the Authority, and the Authority shall be bound thereby.

Notwithstanding any provision of this section, the Authority may transfer all or any part of moneys assigned to one item of expenditure to any item under the same head of expenditure in any estimates approved by the Minister.

The Authority shall open and maintain an account or accounts with such bank or banks as the Authority thinks fit.

Every such account shall be operated by such person or persons as may, from time to time, be authorised in that behalf by the Authority.

The accounts of the Authority shall be audited by the Auditor-General or such other auditor as may be appointed annually by the Minister in consultation with the Auditor-General (referred to in this Act as the auditor).

A person shall not be qualified for appointment as an auditor under subsection (1) unless he is an approved company auditor under the Companies Act (Cap. 50).

The Authority shall, as soon as practicable after the close of each financial year, prepare and submit financial statements in respect of that financial year to the auditor who shall audit and report on them.

The auditor shall in his report state —

The auditor shall, as soon as practicable after the accounts have been submitted for audit, send a report of his audit to the Authority.

The auditor shall submit such periodical and special reports to the Minister and to the Authority as may appear to him to be necessary or as the Minister or the Authority may require.

The auditor or any person authorised by him is entitled at all reasonable times to full and free access to all accounting and other records relating, directly or indirectly, to the financial transactions of the Authority.

The auditor or a person authorised by him may make copies of, or extracts from, any such accounting or other records.

The auditor or any person authorised by him may require any person to furnish him with such information which such person possesses or has access to as the auditor or any duly authorised person considers necessary for the purpose of the functions of the auditor under this Act.

Any officer of the Authority who refuses or fails without any reasonable cause to allow the auditor access to any accounting and other records of the Authority in his custody or power or to give any information possessed by him as and when required or who otherwise hinders, obstructs or delays the auditor in the performance of the auditor’s duties or the exercise of the auditor’s powers shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction —

The Authority shall, as soon as its accounts and financial statements have been audited in accordance with the provisions of this Act, send to the Minister a copy of the audited financial statements, signed by the Chairman, together with a copy of the auditor’s report.

Where the Auditor-General is not the auditor of the Authority, a copy of the audited financial statements and any report made by the auditor shall be forwarded to the Auditor-General at the same time that they are submitted to the Authority.

The Minister shall, as soon as practicable, cause a copy of the audited financial statements and of the auditor’s report referred to in subsection (1) to be presented to Parliament.

The Authority shall have a common seal and such seal may from time to time be broken, changed, altered or made anew as the Authority thinks fit.

All deeds and other documents requiring the seal of the Authority shall be sealed with the common seal of the Authority.

All instruments to which the common seal is affixed shall be signed by any 2 members generally or specially authorised by the Authority for the purpose or by one member and the Chief Executive.

The Authority may, by resolution or otherwise in writing, appoint any officer of the Authority or any other agent either generally or in any particular case to execute or sign on behalf of the Authority any agreement or other instrument not under seal in relation to any matter coming within the powers of the Authority.

All courts, judges and persons acting judicially shall take judicial notice of the common seal of the Authority affixed to any document and shall presume that it was duly affixed.

The Authority shall consist of —

The Minister may appoint the Chief Executive to be a member.

A member shall hold office for such term not exceeding 3 years as the Minister shall specify in his appointment, and may from time to time be re-appointed.

Any member may at any time by notice in writing to the Minister resign from his office.

The Minister may at any time revoke the appointment of any member without assigning any reason.

If a member dies or resigns or has his appointment terminated, the Minister may appoint any person to fill the vacancy for the residue of the term for which the vacating member was appointed.

The Authority shall pay to the Chairman, the Deputy Chairman and other members such salaries, fees and allowances as the Minister may, from time to time, determine.

At all meetings of the Authority, 4 members shall form a quorum.

The Chairman or, in his absence, the Deputy Chairman shall preside at all meetings of the Authority and, in the absence of the Chairman and the Deputy Chairman, the members present shall elect one of their number to preside.

Meetings of the Authority shall be held at such times and places as the Chairman may determine.

All questions arising at any meeting shall be decided by a majority of votes of the members present and voting.

At any meeting of the Authority, the Chairman or, in his absence, the Deputy Chairman shall have a deliberative vote and, in the case of an equality of votes, he shall also have a casting vote.

The validity of any proceedings of the Authority shall not be affected by any vacancy amongst its members or by any defect in the appointment of any member.

Subject to the provisions of this Act, the Authority may regulate its own proceedings.

A member who is in any way, directly or indirectly, interested in a transaction or project of the Authority shall disclose the nature of his interest at a meeting of the Authority.

The disclosure by a member of his interest shall be recorded in the minutes of the Authority and that member shall not take part in any deliberation of the Authority with respect to the transaction or project.

For the purpose of determining whether there is a quorum, a member shall be treated as being present at a meeting notwithstanding that under subsection (2) he cannot vote or has withdrawn from the meeting.

Subject to the provisions of this Act, the functions and duties of the Authority shall be —

The Minister may give such directions, not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act, as to the performance of the functions and the exercise of its powers by the Authority and the Authority shall give effect to any such directions.

Nothing in this section shall be construed as imposing on the Authority, directly or indirectly, any form of duty or liability enforceable by proceedings before any court.

The Authority may, from time to time, appoint, alter or discharge committees, consisting of one or more persons (whether members of the Authority or not), and define or vary the terms of reference of those committees.

Subject to this Act and any regulations made thereunder and to the control of the Authority, each committee appointed under this section may regulate its procedure in such manner as it thinks fit.

The Authority may, from time to time, in respect of a specified matter or class of matters, by writing, delegate any of its powers to a member, officer or committee of the Authority.

Every member, officer or committee purporting to act pursuant to a delegation under this section shall, in the absence of proof to the contrary, be presumed to be acting in accordance with the terms of the delegation.

A delegation under this section shall be revocable at will, and no delegated person shall prevent the exercise of any power, function or duty by the Authority.

The Authority shall, with the approval of the Minister, appoint a Chief Executive on such terms and conditions as the Authority may determine.

The Chief Executive shall —

If the Chief Executive is temporarily absent from Singapore, or is temporarily unable to perform his duties by reason of illness or otherwise, another person may be appointed by the Authority, with the approval of the Minister, to act in the place of the Chief Executive during any such period of absence from duty.

The Authority may, from time to time, appoint such other officers, employees, consultants or agents as it thinks fit for the effective performance of its functions.

No suit or other legal proceedings shall lie personally against any member, officer or employee of the Authority or other person acting under the direction of the Authority for anything which is in good faith done or intended to be done in the execution or purported execution of this Act or any other written law.

The fact that —

Where the Authority provides a service to the public whereby information is supplied to the public, neither the Authority nor any of its employees involved in the supply of such information shall be liable for any loss or damage suffered by any member of the public by reason of any error or omission of whatever nature appearing therein or however caused if made in good faith and in the ordinary course of the discharge of the duties of such employees.

As from the appointed day, such movable and immovable property vested in the Government as may be determined by the Minister for Finance and used or managed by the Primary Production Department and all assets, interests, rights, privileges, liabilities and obligations of the Government relating to the Primary Production Department shall be transferred to and shall vest in the Authority without further assurance, act or deed.

If any question arises as to whether any particular property, or whether any particular asset, interest, right, privilege, liability or obligation has been transferred to or vested in the Authority under subsection (1), a certificate under the hand of the Minister for Finance shall be conclusive evidence that the property, asset, interest, right, privilege, liability or obligation was or was not so transferred or vested.

Any immovable property to be transferred to and vested in the Authority under subsection (1) shall be held by the Authority upon such tenure and subject to such terms and conditions as the President may determine.

All proceedings in respect of the transferred properties by or against the Primary Production Department which are pending on the appointed day may be continued, completed and enforced by or against the Authority.

Every agreement relating to any of the transferred properties to which the Primary Production Department was a party immediately before the appointed day, whether or not of such nature that the rights and liabilities thereunder could be assigned, shall have effect as from that day as if —

As from the appointed day, all persons employed immediately before that day by the Primary Production Department shall be transferred to the service of the Authority on terms no less favourable than those enjoyed by them immediately prior to their transfer.

Until such time as terms and conditions of service are drawn up by the Authority, the scheme and terms and conditions of the Government shall continue to apply to every person transferred to the service of the Authority under subsection (1) as if he were still in the employment of the Government.

The terms and conditions to be drawn up by the Authority shall take into account the terms and conditions of service (including salaries and accrued rights to leave) enjoyed by the persons transferred to the service of the Authority under section 31 while in the employment of the Government.

Any term or condition relating to the length of service with the Authority shall recognise the length of service of the persons so transferred while in the employment of the Government to be service with the Authority.

Nothing in the terms and conditions to be drawn up by the Authority shall adversely affect the conditions that would have been applicable to persons transferred to the service of the Authority as regards any pension, gratuity or allowance payable under the Pensions Act (Cap. 225).

Where a person has been transferred to the service of the Authority under section 31, the Government shall be liable to pay to the Authority such portion of any gratuity, pension or allowance payable to the person on his retirement as the same shall bear to the proportion which the aggregate amount of his pensionable emoluments during his service with the Government bears to the aggregate amount of his pensionable emoluments during his service under both the Government and the Authority.

Where any person in the service of the Authority, whose case does not fall within the scope of any pension or other schemes established under this section, retires or dies in the service of the Authority or is discharged from such service, the Authority may grant to him or to such other person or persons wholly or partly dependent on him, as the Authority thinks fit, such allowance or gratuity as the Authority may determine.

Where on the appointed day any disciplinary proceedings were pending against any employee of the Government transferred to the service of the Authority, the proceedings shall be carried on and completed by the Authority.

Where on the appointed day any matter was in the course of being heard or investigated or had been heard or investigated by a committee acting under due authority but no order or decision had been rendered thereon, the committee shall complete the hearing or investigation and make such order, a ruling or a direction as it could have made under the authority vested in it before that day.

Any order, ruling or direction made or given by a committee pursuant to this section shall be treated as an order, ruling or direction of the Authority and have the same force or effect as if it had been made or given by the Authority pursuant to the authority vested in the Authority under this Act.

The Authority shall, as soon as practicable after the end of each financial year, cause to be prepared and transmitted to the Minister a report dealing generally with the activities of the Authority during the preceding financial year and containing such information relating to the proceedings and policy of the Authority as the Minister may from time to time direct.

The Minister shall, as soon as practicable, cause a copy of every such report to be presented to Parliament.

The Authority shall have the exclusive right to the use of such symbol or representation as it may select or devise and thereafter display or exhibit in connection with its activities or affairs.

Any person who uses a symbol or representation identical with that of the Authority, or which so resembles the Authority’s symbol or representation as to deceive or cause confusion, or to be likely to deceive or to cause confusion, shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $10,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or to both.

In addition to the powers conferred on him by this Act or any other written law, an officer or employee of the Authority may, on declaration of his office and production to the person against whom he is acting such identification card as the Chief Executive may direct to be carried by officers or employees of the Authority, in relation to any offence under this Act or such other written law —

Any person who —

Where an offence under this Act or any regulations made thereunder has been committed by a body corporate, a partnership or an unincorporated association of persons, any person who at the time of the commission of the offence was a director, manager, partner, secretary or other officer acting in a similar capacity thereof, or was purporting to act in any such capacity shall be guilty of that offence unless he proves that —

Where an offence under this Act or any regulations made thereunder is committed by any person acting as an agent or servant of another person, or being otherwise subject to the supervision or instruction of another person for the purposes of any employment in the course of which the offence was committed, that other person shall, without prejudice to the liability of the first-mentioned person, be liable under this Act or the regulations in the same manner and to the same extent as if he had personally committed the offence if it is proved that the act which constituted the offence was committed with his consent or connivance or that it was attributable to any neglect on his part.

Subject to subsection (3) a document or certificate, purporting to be a report under the hand of the Chief Executive or any officer authorised by him upon any matter or thing in connection with the administration or enforcement of this Act or any regulations made thereunder or with an investigation carried out under this Act or the regulations, shall be admissible as evidence in any proceedings under this Act or the regulations and shall be prima facie evidence of the facts stated therein.

For the purposes of this section, a document purporting to be a certificate referred to in subsection (1) on its production by the prosecution shall, unless the contrary is proved, be deemed to be such a certificate.

A certificate referred to in subsection (1) shall not be received in evidence in pursuance of that subsection unless the person charged has been given —

Where a certificate of the Chief Executive or any officer authorised by him is admitted in evidence under subsection (1), the person charged may require the Chief Executive or any officer authorised by him to be called as a witness for the prosecution and be cross-examined as if he had given evidence of the matters stated in the certificate.

The Chief Executive or any officer authorised by him may, in his discretion compound any offence under this Act or any regulations made thereunder which is prescribed as a compoundable offence by collecting from a person reasonably suspected of having committed the offence a sum of money not exceeding $1,000.

On payment of such sum of money, no further proceedings shall be taken against such person in respect of the offence.

Except for the purpose of the performance of his duties or the exercise of his functions or when lawfully required to do so by any court or under the provisions of any written law, no person who is or has been a member, an officer, an employee or an agent of the Authority or a member of a committee of the Authority shall disclose any information relating to the affairs of the Authority or of any other person which has been obtained by him in the performance of his duties or the exercise of his functions.

Any person who contravenes subsection (1) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $2,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to both.

The Authority may, with the approval of the Minister, make regulations for all or any of the following purposes: (a)regulating the proceedings of the Authority or of the committees of the Authority;

Such regulations may provide that a contravention thereof shall be punishable with a fine not exceeding $10,000 or with imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or with both and, in the case of a continuing offence, with a further fine not exceeding $1,000 for every day or part thereof during which the offence continues after conviction.