Indiscriminate Use of Pest Poisons by Pest Control Companies

Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang asked the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources (a) what measures and regulations are in place to prevent pest control companies from placing and using hazardous bait, such as poison, in such a way that the safety of other wildlife and vulnerable members of the public could be harmed; and (b) whether the Ministry can enforce stronger rules to prevent the indiscriminate use of pest poisons.

Vector control operators are regulated by the National Environment Agency (NEA) under the Control of Vectors and Pesticides Act (CVPA). All personnel involved in vector control work have to undergo mandatory training in the safe handling and use of pesticides before they are licensed or certified by NEA. For instance, vector control personnel are trained to only dispense rat bait in rat burrows or in tamper-proof bait stations which other animals cannot easily access.

Apart from regulating vector control operators, NEA also regulates the use of pesticides to ensure that they do not pose any public health concerns. NEA's evaluation of pesticides is done in accordance with the World Health Organization Pesticide Evaluation Scheme (WHOPES) and only pesticides that are approved for use by NEA can be sold in Singapore after they are registered, labelled and classified properly.

My Ministry takes a serious view of the indiscriminate use of pesticides and will take enforcement action against any vector control operator and vector control personnel who infringe the regulations. Any person caught conducting vector control work without a licence shall be liable to a Court fine of up to $20,000, or imprisonment for up to three months, or both. NEA may also suspend or cancel the registration of any vector control operator or the licence of any vector control personnel in cases where there are serious breaches of its licensing conditions.

These penalties have proven to be a sufficient deterrence. Over the past five years, there have only been six incidents that required enforcement actions to be taken against vector control operators or personnel. Hence, there is no need to put in place stiffer penalties to prevent the indiscriminate use of pesticides.