Printing and Publishing

Local printing and publishing of books require no licence. However, printing presses have to be licensed and a printing permit is required for newspapers, magazines and other periodicals. International and regional publications (e.g. TIME, International Herald Tribune, Economist and Asahi Shimbun) print their Asian editions in Singapore. The master copy is transmitted via satellite and printed and distributed regionally from Singapore.

Newspaper permit

Under the Newspaper and Printing Presses Act, you need to apply for a permit to:

·      Print or publish a periodical in Singapore at regular or irregular intervals;

·      Sell or distribute a Malaysian periodical in Singapore;

·      Sell or distribute an offshore newspaper (300 copies or more) in Singapore. An offshore newspaper is a newspaper published outside Singapore, at an interval of not more than a week and which carries news or reports on current affairs and politics of any country in Southeast Asia.

http://app.mica.gov.sg/Default.aspx?tabid=173

Newspapers and Printing Presses Act (Cap 206) (‘NPPA’)

The NPPA regulates the print media industry in Singapore in relation to the establishment and operation of newspaper and magazine companies.

In Singapore, by virtue of the NPPA, you will need a:

(a)     licence to use the printing press to print documents which could be in the form of printed newspapers, printed pamphlets, leaflets, maps, charts, plans and includes any documents bound together;

(b)     permit to publish a newspaper in Singapore (including local periodicals);

(c)     permit to sell and distribute in Singapore newspapers that are printed or published in Malaysia; and

(d)     permit to sell and distribute foreign newspapers in Singapore.

The grant of the licence or permit to print and/or publish is completely at the discretion of the Minister. The license or permit is valid for a period of one year from the date of its issue.

Ownership and control of newspaper companies

The NPPA imposes certain restrictions on ownership and control of a newspaper company. A ‘newspaper company’ is a public company limited by shares which has the following special features:

(a)     all its directors must be Singapore citizens;

(b)     there are two classes of shares, namely, management and ordinary shares; and

(c)     the management shares may not be issued or transferred except to citizens of Singapore or corporations approved by the Minister.

In addition, the NPPA restricts ownership of a newspaper company by requiring any person to seek approval from the Minister in order to become a substantial shareholder of a newspaper company or a 12% controller of the company, ie being in a position to control, whether directly or indirectly, of not less than 12% voting power in the newspaper company.

It is also an offence for any person, without obtaining the prior consent of the Minister, to receive on behalf of any newspaper, funds from any foreign source, whether a foreign government, foreign company or a foreign person. The Minister will give his approval if he is satisfied that the funds from the foreign source are intended for bona fide commercial purposes.

Undesirable Publications Act (Cap 338) (‘UPA’)

The UPA prevents the importation, distribution or reproduction of publications that are obscene and objectionable. A publication is deemed as obscene if it tends to deprave and corrupt persons who are likely to read, see or hear the matter contained or embodied in it.

A publication is deemed as objectionable if it portrays:

(a)     matters such as sex, horror, crime, cruelty, violence or the consumption of drugs or other intoxicating substances in such a manner that the availability of the publication is likely to be injurious to the public good; or

(b)     matters of race or religion in such a manner that the availability of the publication is likely to cause feelings of enmity, hatred, ill-will or hostility between different racial or religious groups.

Under the UPA, the Minister has the discretion to prohibit the importation, sale and circulation of any publication if the Minister is of the opinion that such publications are contrary to public interest. Publications which are banned are set out under a Schedule to the UPA titled ‘Undesirable Publications (Prohibitions) (Consolidation (Order)’. At present, there are over 250 publications which are banned, including men’s magazines such as Playboy and Mayfair.

However, MDA periodically reviews the list of banned publications, and at the appropriate juncture, may lift the ban on a publication. For example, on 2 September 2004, MDA decided to allow the sale and distribution of the adult-interest magazine Cosmopolitan, following the recommendation of the Censorship Review Committee 2002/2003 to allow the sale and distribution of publications with adult content, provided they do not contain exploitative sex and nudity.