Food company Far Ocean and director fined for multiple offences

FOOD PROCESSING and retail company Far Ocean Sea Products and one of its directors have been convicted of multiple offences under the Wholesale Meat and Fish Act (WMFA).

Singapore Food Agency (SFA) said on Monday (Nov 20) that Far Ocean and one of its directors, Quek Ruiming Jordan, were handed fines of S$223,000 and S$155,000 respectively.

The charges were for offences committed in July 2019 including failure to mark food with expiry dates; mislabelling of food products; operating an unlicensed food processing room; and obstructing officers in the execution of their duties.

In 2019, SFA’s inspection of Far Ocean’s premises found around 5.88 tonnes of meat, fish and seafood products, which formed the basis for 127 of the charges.

This included products which had not been marked nor labelled with expiry dates. It also found products that had been expired for more than three years and stored together with unexpired products.

SFA’s investigations also found that Far Ocean had food products labelled in a misleading manner – including those which had expired – with extended expiry dates.

The company was also operating an unlicensed food processing room. SFA officers sealed the room for further inspection, but Far Ocean staff were found to have accessed the room after the sealing.

They washed and cleaned the room, and wrapped machines in plastic covers in an attempt to avoid detection.

Far Ocean faced a total of 129 charges. It was convicted on 32 charges under the WMFA, with a further 98 charges “that were taken into consideration for the purpose of sentencing”, according to the SFA.

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As one of Far Ocean’s directors and the person who oversaw the company’s production and logistics departments at the material time, Quek faced a total of 128 charges. These were the same charges as the company except for the charge of obstruction.

Under the WMFA, each pack of meat, fish and seafood product must be labelled in the prescribed manner and must not be labelled with information that is false, inaccurate or misleading.

Offenders are liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding S$50,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or to both and, in the case of a second or subsequent conviction, to a fine not exceeding S$100,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years or to both.

Any person who obstructs, hinders or impedes authorised officers in the execution of their duties shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding S$10,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to both. All SFA-licensed premises shall conduct activities within the licensed premises in accordance with the conditions of the licence. Any unauthorised use of the premises is prohibited unless prior approval is given by the SFA. Any person found guilty shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding S$10,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months, or both.