Singapore Passes Sweeping Haze Law Amendments Introducing S$20 Million Fines and Financial Restrictions
SINGAPORE — The Parliament of Singapore on November 4, 2026, unanimously approved extensive legislative amendments designed to hold overseas corporate actors accountable for regional air pollution, enacting tenfold increases to maximum criminal fines, introducing a new civil penalty track, and granting authorities the power to cut off errant companies from Singapore’s commercial and financial sectors.
Lawmakers passed the Transboundary Haze Pollution (Amendment) Bill following roughly six hours of debate. The measure had been fast-tracked under a Certificate of Urgency signed by the President, reflecting heightened legislative urgency following the country’s most severe haze episode since 2015, which blanketed the city-state from September 4 to October 25, 2026.
The legislation updates the Transboundary Haze Pollution Act of 2014, substantially recalibrating the financial risks for entities linked to land and forest fires in the region. Under the newly approved criminal framework, maximum daily fines for culpable entities jump from S$100,000 to S$1 million, while the statutory ceiling for aggregate criminal fines rises tenfold from S$2 million to S$20 million.
Beyond standard statutory fines, the courts have been granted explicit authority to assess and order an additional financial penalty matching any commercial profit gained or operational expenditure avoided by an offender as a result of illegal burning practices. This mechanism is designed to eliminate the economic advantage of bypassing sustainable land-clearing methods.
Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu told Parliament that transboundary haze “needs to be deterred by stronger penalties, to underscore the gravity of such offences.”
Recognizing the evidentiary and jurisdictional hurdles often associated with cross-border criminal enforcement, the amendment establishes a dual-track enforcement structure. A new civil penalty framework authorizes the National Environment Agency (NEA), acting with the consent of the Public Prosecutor, to initiate civil proceedings in court against culpable entities, with penalties capped at S$10 million. To protect against double jeopardy, the law includes a statutory bar preventing any entity from being subjected to both civil and criminal penalties for the same case.
“We need better ways to obtain and verify information, trace corporate relationships and impose meaningful consequences on errant entities, even where criminal prosecution proves difficult,” Fu noted during the debate.
The amended Act also significantly expands Singapore’s jurisdictional reach. Previously, prosecutors had to establish that physical smoke had crossed into Singaporean airspace. Under the new statutory provisions, the law covers overseas conduct that causes or contributes to fires presenting an objective risk of haze pollution reaching Singapore, regardless of whether smoke has already entered the country’s territory.
To prevent foreign defendants from evading justice by ignoring Singapore court summonses, the amendments establish statutory backing for Singaporean courts to conduct in-absentia proceedings. Under defined circumstances, trials can proceed and formal verdicts can be rendered even if an accused individual or entity fails to appear in court.
In another major shift, the legislation leverages Singapore’s stature as a regional commodities trading and financial hub to enforce accountability. The Singapore Government is now empowered to formally designate errant entities convicted under the Act and issue binding orders restricting commercial dealings with them. These restrictions encompass raw material supply chains, commercial purchase agreements, corporate loans, and broader financial services administered in cooperation with the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
Entities and individuals operating in Singapore that violate these restrictions by conducting business with designated errant entities face severe penalties, including fines of up to S$1 million per contravention, alongside ongoing daily fines of up to S$100,000 for continuing breaches.
To assist regulatory investigations, the legislation expands administrative powers by allowing the Director-General and the NEA to compel companies connected to suspected burning sites to appoint independent private-sector expert assessors. These assessors must be engaged at the company’s own expense to investigate burning activities and deliver their findings directly to Singaporean authorities.
Addressing the broader regional context of environmental governance, Fu cautioned that legislative deterrence alone cannot solve the persistent regional challenge. “The THPA is not a silver bullet. It is one of many tools we must use to address the transboundary haze situation,” she said.