Singapore to introduce stockpiling framework, tougher penalties for food safety breaches
The new Food Safety and Security Bill aims to strengthen Singapore’s food safety regime and food security measures
SINGAPORE is planning to introduce tougher penalties for food safety breaches as well as a stockpiling framework, among several measures to improve its food security.
This is under the Food Safety and Security Bill (FSSB) introduced in Parliament on Tuesday (Nov 12), by the Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment.
The Bill has three objectives, the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) said in a statement.
First, it seeks to consolidate and refresh existing food-related legislation. Its second aim is to strengthen Singapore’s food safety regime to better protect consumers and public health, and its third is to keep pace with emerging challenges in safeguarding food security.
Food security
Under food security, the Bill will introduce a minimum stockholding requirement (MSR), which will enable future food stockpiling schemes if needed.
Singapore already has a rice stockpile scheme, under which rice importers must stockpile rice as part of their import licence condition. This will now come under the MSR.
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The MSR framework provides more effective levers to ensure compliance, and enables the government to extend similar stockpiling schemes to other essential food items or agri-food production inputs if needed, said SFA.
This future-proofs Singapore’s food security levers, given the increased uncertainty and frequency of food supply disruptions.
Separately, local farms will have to develop farm management plans. This is to mitigate risks to food safety, disease spread and water quality to ensure the sustainable scale-up of food production, added SFA.
Strengthening food safety regime
To strengthen Singapore’s food safety regime, the new Bill extends the coverage of food safety legislation beyond the sale of food to the “supply” of food as well, which includes donations and free distribution.
Key food distribution nodes, including importers and food processing companies, will have to keep records for traceability and recalls. This is to facilitate timely recalls if needed.
Maximum penalties will also be raised, as a stronger deterrence for non-compliance. Penalties will be tiered based on severity, and higher penalties will be applied on repeat offenders or offences that are especially egregious.
Recalcitrant offenders whose licences are revoked will also be disqualified from holding new licences of the same type for a specified duration.
Consolidate existing legislation
In consolidating existing legislation, the new Bill will provide clarity for the industry, SFA said. For example, food importers will only have to refer to the FSSB, instead of having to look up different Acts.
The FSSB will not prescribe operational details for food businesses and animal feed producers to ensure food is safe. Instead, licensees will need to maintain food control and feed control plans.
Consumers will also get greater flexibility on how much food they can import for private consumption. The cap will be raised to 15 kg per person across all categories, up from the current limit of 5 kg for meat and seafood and a “small, reasonable quantity” of fruits and vegetables.
With the FSSB, there will no longer be a limit on the source countries from which meat can be brought in for private consumption. However, food products of “higher regulatory concern” such as animal blood and game meat will continue to be prohibited.
Parliament is expected to debate on the Bill at the next sitting in January.
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