Under the Act, owners and occupiers of land, buildings and places must exercise due care to prevent prohibited products, such as vapes, from being stored in their premises.
This may involve conducting tenant verification, explicit tenancy agreement clauses on prohibited activities, and ad-hoc inspections, said HSA.
Those who permit the storage of prohibited products or their components without exercising due care face a fine of up to S$100,000 or up to three years’ jail or both for their first offence.
They face a fine of up to S$200,000, up to six years’ jail or both for their second offence.
Senior Minister of State for Health Koh Poh Koon then noted that HSA had uncovered several cases of illegal vape operations in warehouses and storage units, including one where the vapes and components were worth more than S$5 million in street value.
Enforcement against vape smuggling at Singapore’s air, land and sea checkpoints was stepped up last year amid a broader crackdown.
Harsher penalties for vape-related offences also went into effect last September, with etomidate – the anaesthetic agent found in drug-laced vapes, known as Kpods – listed as a Class C drug in the Misuse of Drugs Act.