Press Releases
Director and his Company Fined $12,300 for Unlicensed Sale of Shisha
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Healthcare professional
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21 June 2017
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The Health Sciences Authority has prosecuted an individual and one of his companies for the unlicensed sale of shisha molasses/tobacco at two of their retail outlets located in the Kampong Glam vicinity. Both were convicted in Court on 20 June 2017 for selling shisha on seven occasions without a valid tobacco retail licence and fined a total of $12,300 (please refer to Annex A in the pdf for the details).
2 Mr Rupesh Kumar Singh s/o Seva Singh was the Director of Tehrani Corporation Pte Ltd which owned the retail outlet ‘Nasrin Restaurant’ at 58 Arab Street, and Sufi Corner Pte Ltd which owned the retail outlet “Sufi’s Corner’ at 56 Arab Street.
3 Both the outlets had their tobacco retail licences revoked in 2014 for tobacco related offences. Despite that, they continued to sell shisha tobacco molasses on multiple occasions to customers from September 2014 to November 2014. These cases were detected through HSA’s enforcement activities, which are targeted at deterring the unlicensed sale of tobacco products in Singapore.
Penalties for tobacco-related offences
4 It is an offence under Section 18 of the Tobacco (Control of Advertisements and Sale) Act to sell tobacco products without a valid licence in Singapore. Any person found guilty shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $5,000, and in the case of a second or subsequent conviction, to a fine not exceeding $10,000.
5 HSA would also like to remind the public that from 28 November 2014, the Tobacco (Control of Advertisements and Sale) (Prohibited Tobacco Products) Regulations prohibits the import, distribution, sale or offer for sale of shisha molasses/tobacco in Singapore.
6 Any person who is convicted of the above offence is liable to a fine of up to $10,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or to both, for the first offence and to a fine not exceeding $20,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to both, for the second or subsequent offence. Any shisha molasses/tobacco imported will be seized and confiscated. Information pertaining to the prohibition of harmful tobacco products in Singapore is available on HSA’s website.
7 The public is strongly advised not to purchase or bring shisha molasses/ tobacco into Singapore.
8 HSA encourages members of the public who have information on the illegal import, distribution, sale or offer for sale of shisha molasses/tobacco to call its Tobacco Regulation Branch at Tel: 6684-2036 or 6684-2037 during office hours (9:00am to 5:30pm, Monday to Friday).
Shisha tobacco is more harmful than cigarettes
9 Shisha smoking is a dangerous activity. Contrary to popular belief, even after it has been passed through water, shisha smoke contains high levels of toxic compounds. The burning of tobacco in a shisha pipe using charcoal produces high levels of carbon monoxide, nicotine and cancer-causing chemicals than cigarettes. Each session of shisha smoking can last between 15 and 90 minutes, and this causes the smoker to be exposed to a higher level of harmful toxicants including carbon monoxide, heavy metals and cancer-causing chemicals. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), a person smoking shisha for 45 to 60 minutes inhales smoke equivalent to that from 100 or more cigarettes .
10 Advice and support on smoking cessation is available through the toll-free Quitline at 1800 438 2000 or the iQuit club at www.hpb.gov.sg/iquit.
HEALTH SCIENCES AUTHORITY
SINGAPORE
21 JUNE 2017