Singapore will form panel of experts to help investigations into haze-linked firms

The specialist panel is a group of law firms, audit firms and investigative firms created to support Singapore’s efforts against companies that may be responsible for, or have contributed to, haze-causing fires. Its importance lies in combining different professional skills for investigations that cross national borders.

Panel members will conduct cross-border inquiries, trace complicated corporate relationships and examine supply chains spanning several jurisdictions. Companies identified by the Government must engage professionals from the panel and submit thorough audits of their operations, relationships and supply chains.

Davinder Singh Chambers will advise the Government and coordinate the panel’s work across jurisdictions. The findings will then be assessed by relevant government agencies and the Attorney-General’s Chambers, with the NEA and Monetary Authority of Singapore also involved. More details are due next week.

The requirement applies to companies identified by the Government as potentially responsible for, or connected to, fires causing haze in Singapore. The article does not name those companies, but it says they will be required to engage professionals from the specialist panel.

Those professionals will investigate the companies’ operations, corporate relationships and supply chains. The companies are expected to cooperate fully, provide unfettered access to relevant information and allow access to their operations when necessary. They must also submit thorough audits to the Government.

This arrangement is designed to overcome problems Singapore agencies may face when evidence and business activities are overseas. It is separate from the 10 Singapore companies that received information-gathering notices from the NEA on Oct 23, although the article does not state that they are the same companies.

The article gives three important figures about Singapore’s haze investigations and notices. Singapore sent legal notices to six Indonesian companies regarding the 2015 haze. Eleven years later, four of those cases remain open, showing how slowly cross-border enforcement can proceed.

The article also reports that the NEA announced information-gathering notices sent to 10 Singapore companies on Oct 23. Unlike those notices, the earlier legal notices to the six Indonesian companies carried no penalties if firms did not comply.

These figures describe different groups and legal steps. The six Indonesian companies are linked to the older legal notices, while the 10 Singapore companies received newer information-gathering notices. The article does not state how many companies are currently being considered for the new expert-panel process.

Investigating haze-causing fires is difficult because the fires, companies, records and supply chains may lie outside Singapore. Singapore agencies and the Attorney-General’s Chambers can face legal and practical limits when gathering information or doing related work overseas.

Countries generally restrict what foreign government agencies may do in their territories. Investigators may also struggle to identify the right companies when corporate structures span jurisdictions. The article notes that even Indonesian environmental watchdogs have difficulty accessing up-to-date plantation maps.

Indonesia’s Forestry Ministry restricted access to its Sigap mapping platform without written approval and threatened criminal charges over unauthorised use of geospatial data. These barriers help explain why four cases remain open 11 years after Singapore sent notices to six Indonesian companies. The new panel is intended to work across these jurisdictions.

The panel is meant to strengthen Singapore’s ability to identify and hold accountable firms that may be responsible for, or have contributed to, fires causing haze. Its experts can investigate matters that government agencies may not be able to pursue directly overseas.

For example, panel professionals can trace complex corporate relationships and examine supply chains across several jurisdictions. Identified companies must provide relevant information and operational access, then submit thorough audits. These findings can help establish facts about who operates businesses, how companies are connected and where responsibilities may lie.

The findings will be assessed by relevant government agencies and the Attorney-General’s Chambers. This could support enforcement of Singapore’s Transboundary Haze Pollution Act, but the article also says enforcement remains challenging. It does not state that the panel’s work will guarantee penalties or successful cases.

Satellite images alone may show fire locations, but they do not necessarily identify the company responsible. Investigators need to match the fire’s location with accurate information about plantation ownership, operations and corporate control.

The article gives a clear example: environmental watchdogs in Indonesia struggle to access up-to-date maps of plantation companies. Without those maps, it is difficult to determine a fire’s origin through satellite images alone. Other useful evidence may include corporate relationship records, operational information and supply-chain details gathered through inquiries.

Access to such evidence is a major enforcement challenge. Indonesia’s Forestry Ministry restricted access to its Sigap mapping platform without written approval and threatened criminal charges over unauthorised geospatial data use. The expert panel is intended to investigate these links across jurisdictions and submit audits to Singapore’s Government.

Transboundary haze pollution occurs when smoke and haze from fires in one country cross into another country. In this article’s context, fires outside Singapore are causing haze in Singapore, so the effects extend beyond the country where the fires occur.

The cross-border nature matters because the suspected fires, plantation companies, maps and other evidence may be overseas. Singapore must therefore identify firms and gather proof across different jurisdictions. The article says fires causing haze in Singapore may involve companies whose corporate relationships and supply chains span multiple countries.

Singapore’s Government is creating an expert panel to support these investigations. Its members will conduct inquiries, trace corporate structures and examine supply chains. The findings will be assessed by government agencies and the Attorney-General’s Chambers, potentially helping Singapore pursue accountability, although the article says enforcement remains challenging.