Higher tech co-funding for some farms, new disposable bag charge

Singapore

HIGHER technology co-funding for certain farm types, coastal protection studies, and a disposable bag charge are among the ways in which Singapore is improving its food and climate resilience and aiming to be a zero-waste nation. These were announced at the Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment's (MSE) Committee of Supply debate on Monday (Mar 7).

For instance, the S$60 million Agri-Food Cluster Transformation (ACT) Fund will offer a higher co-funding rate for farms of fruited vegetables, mushrooms and shrimp.

New sea spaces will be launched for local aquaculture - though sea-based farms will have to start paying for leases under a new system.

The ACT Fund, established in 2021 and available till end-2025, provides support in 3 areas: technology upscaling; innovation and test-bedding; and capability upgrading.

Currently, the co-funding rate is 70 per cent for leafy vegetables, food fish and hen eggs, and 50 per cent for other types of farms, up to different respective caps.

For applications from Apr 1, farms of fruited vegetables, mushrooms, or shrimp will also get the higher rate of 70 per cent for technology upscaling, innovation and test-bedding, and be subject to the higher caps on dollar value. There is no change to the co-funding rate under capability upgrading.

Separately, from end-2022, new land and sea tenders with 20+10-year leases will be launched "to provide greater certainty for our farmers, so they will invest more into their farms", said Minister of State for Sustainability and the Environment Desmond Tan.

The longer leases will apply to new land parcels in Sungei Tengah and Lim Chu Kang after the Lim Chu Kang masterplan is developed.

From end-2022, the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) will progressively launch new sea space tenders in the Southern Waters and East Johor Strait.

Sea-based farms do not currently pay for the use of sea spaces, and instead apply for a licence and are allocated a site if successful. But they will soon have to pay, under the new lease-based system.

In this transition to leases, temporary occupation licences (TOL) will be introduced for existing sea farms from Jan 1, 2023.

An annual TOL rate of S$3,600 per half hectare in the Straits of Johor and S$6,000 per half hectare in the Southern Waters will apply from 2023. The payment will be phased over 4 years, reaching the full amount in 2026.

Separately, most sea-based farmers will see their annual licence fees reduced to S$145 per licence, down from S$850 per half hectare, from Jan 1, 2023.

Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu spoke on the "long-term endeavour" of coastal protection, to combat the threat which the impending sea-level rise poses for a low-lying island nation such as Singapore.

In May 2021, PUB embarked on a site-specific study at the coastline of City-East Coast. This year, JTC and PUB will commence studies at Jurong Island and the north-west coast respectively.

The government will also study how to reinforce the dykes and dams for important water sources such as Singapore's 4 coastal reservoirs, to protect them from seawater intrusion, Fu said.

To aid Singapore's transition to a zero-waste nation, large supermarkets with an annual turnover of more than S$100 million will have to charge at least S$0.05 per disposable carrier bag from mid-2023.

This applies to disposable bags regardless of the type of material used, for purchases made at physical stores. It will cover about two-thirds of all supermarket outlets here, including NTUC FairPrice, Cold Storage, Giant, Sheng Siong and Prime supermarket outlets.

The charge will not be extended to smaller convenience stores for now. Supermarket operators with an annual turnover of less than S$100 million may still choose to implement their own bag charges.

To uphold accountability and transparency in the use of the proceeds, supermarkets operators will have to publish information on the number of bags issued; proceeds received from the bag charge; and how the proceeds are used. They are encouraged to use the proceeds for charitable programmes or sustainability-related initiatives.