A new law covering food safety in Singapore was passed in Parliament this past week.
The Food Safety and Security Bill consolidates food-related laws that were enacted at different points in time.
Grace Fu, Minister for Sustainability and the Environment, said food safety hazards can arise at any point along the agri-food supply chain.
“Often in Singapore, we take our safe and secure food supply for granted. This is the result of many decades of hard work by stakeholders and the trust that they have help built in the minds of the consumers,” she said.
“Even as this bill updates our food safety regime and strengthens our food security, many of the requirements will not be new to businesses and are already implemented today. By simplifying and bringing about consistency, the bill reduces regulatory complexity for businesses, which in turn reduces compliance costs.”
The Food Control Plan
Between 2022 and 2024, an average of 43 percent of foodborne outbreaks resulted from poor food safety practices by food workers.
It is an offence if a licensed food business uses an untrained individual as a food worker. Companies can use SFA’s Food Handler Digital Data Hub to track the expiry dates of their workers’ certification.
In cases of recalls initiated by industry due to food safety concerns, the industry will be required to inform the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) as soon as possible or within 24 hours after making the decision to recall.
All licensable businesses which are not in primary production must design and implement a Food Control Plan. This would not prescribe specific measures, but allow firms to consider what works for them to meet food safety outcomes. They will have the flexibility to decide on the preventive measures suited to their operational needs.
The rules will allow SFA to continue with the current practice of appointing food inspectors. It will also permit the agency to appoint “outsourced enforcement officers” to supplement its resources in carrying out selected functions. The scope of powers given to such officers will be more limited.
The regulation will provide powers for SFA to establish inspection schemes, to identify food and other controlled item which require prior clearance for import and the different levels of inspection for specific hazards.
Updated enforcement
The bill seeks to align the maximum penalty for the most serious food-related offenses to $50,000 (U.S. $36,500) for a first-time corporate offender and, for a first-time individual offender, to $25,000 (U.S. $18,300) or a jail term of up to 24 months or both. A more severe breach such as the supply of unsafe food will carry a higher criminal punishment than failing to keep records.
An ex-licensee whose food trading license, food business license or animal feed production license has been revoked will be disqualified from holding the same permit for a period of up to three years.
Existing powers of arrest will no longer be provided. Cases involving fatalities or intentional contamination of food will be referred to the police for investigation.
Koh Poh Koon, Senior Minister of State for Sustainability and the Environment, said: “Given the complexities of our food supply chains today, strengthening food safety and security requires joint responsibility and collective effort. Ensuring food safety from farm to fork requires every player across the food value chain to play their part.”
The bill will introduce a category of “defined food,” which will include yet-to-be approved novel foods, genetically modified (GM) foods and insect-like species. Once approved, such food will be taken off this list and may be freely supplied in Singapore.
Rules will be implemented in phases by 2028, starting with areas such as defined foods in the second half of 2025.
Singapore will also establish the Communicable Diseases Agency (CDA) in the next few months.
It will be the front-line agency in preparing for, preventing, detecting, and responding to infectious diseases. CDA will oversee surveillance and risk assessment, preparedness and response, and disease and outbreak management.
CDA will work with other agencies, such as the SFA, as part of the approach to prevent, detect, and respond to new and emerging public health threats.
(To sign up for a free subscription to Food Safety News, click here.)
