Singapore Updates Controls of 7 Hazardous Substances from July 1

Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) and National Environment Agency (NEA) jointly issued a circular [1] last month, announcing the updated controls of 7 substances, namely are:

• 2,2 – Azobis (2-Methylbutyronitrile)

• Azobis (Dimethylvaleronitrile)

• Azobis (Isobutyronitrile)

• Ethyl Isocyanate

• Isopropyl Isocyanate

• Methoxymethyl Isocyanate

• Isobutyl Isocyanate

The 7 substances were jointly controlled by SCDF and NEA, while now they are only controlled by SCDF under the Fire Safety Act and its Regulations with effect from 1 July 2020, as part of ongoing efforts to streamline regulatory requirements.

Companies importing, storing, transporting, and conveyance by pipeline for these 7 substances above SCDF’s exemption quantities are required to obtain the relevant Petroleum and Flammable Licence (s) from SCDF. Hazardous Substances Licence/Permit from NEA is not required any longer. All of the application procedures are unchanged. For the traders and declaring agents who declare below SCDF exemption quantities, they are required to comply with fire safety requirements for the storage of these 7 substances even though an SCDF storage licence is not required.

Prior to applying for an import permit application in the TradeNet system, importers are required to obtain the necessary Import and Storage licenses from SCDF. And the NEA product codes are no longer required for import permit application of these 7 substances. For the import permit application of controlled substances above/below SCDF exemption quantities, all traders and declaring agents are also required to declare only corresponding SCDF product codes in Table 1. For the traders and declaring agents who declare below SCDF exemption quantities, they are required to comply with fire safety requirements for the storage of these 7 substances even though an SCDF storage license is not required. When it comes to the export permit application of these 7 substances, SCDF does not have any licensing requirements, hence SCDF (import and storage) licenses and product codes are not required to be declared, and the NEA product codes are not required any longer as well.

The SCDF exemption quantities and SCDF product codes for imports above/below the exemption quantities of the 7 controlled substances are shown in Table 1.

Table 1. Information of the 7 Controlled Substances