Notifications for Singapore (48 notifications)

Following a review of the conditions for the importation of chilled pork, Singapore will be making trade facilitative amendments to the existing conditions and removing this particular condition in its entirety "Chilled pork has been produced under strict hygienic condition, vacuum packed and have a shelf life of over 6 weeks.With advancements in the meat industry, there is no longer a need to prescribe the type of packaging and shelf-life. The strict hygiene condition is also covered under existing accreditation requirements and therefore duplicative. Hence, the proposed amendments were made to facilitate trade. Other existing conditions for the importation of chilled pork will continue to apply.

Food (Amendment) Regulations 2025On 30 September 2022, the Singapore Food Agency notified the WTO via G/SPS/N/SGP/78 of the proposed amendments to the Food Regulations, then titled draft Food (Amendment No. X) Regulations 2022, concerning labelling requirements for prepacked food. Following feedback received during the comment period, the following trade facilitative amendments have been made to the draft Food (Amendment No. X) Regulations 2022:Exemption of prepacked fresh, whole and unpeeled fruits and vegetables from the declaration of lot identification on the label; andRemoval of the proposed new Regulation 12A for food advertised or sold on online sales platforms, which required online platforms to display stipulated labelling information for prepacked food sold online.The finalized regulations have been gazetted as the Food (Amendment) Regulations 2025 on 31 January 2025 and will enter into force on 30 January 2026.

Singapore has completed a review of the conditions for the importation of chilled pork, and will be making trade facilitative amendments to the existing conditions, to allow for the importation of chilled pork which:Comes from animals that are originating from a compartment with negligible risk for Trichinella infection in accordance with Article 8.18.5 of the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) Terrestrial Animal Health Code; or Comes from animals that have tested negative for the detection of Trichinella larvae based on an approved method of testing; or Was processed to ensure the inactivation of Trichinella larvae in accordance with the Codex Guidelines for the control of Trichinella spp. in meat of Suidae (CAC/CL 86-2015).These conditions are aligned with the recommendations in Article 8.18.6 of the WOAH Terrestrial Animal Health Code, and will replace the existing conditions which requires the country from which the animals are derived to be Trichinosis-free at the country level, or for carcasses from which the pork was derived to be tested and found free from Trichinosis. Other existing conditions for the importation of chilled pork will continue to apply.

Singapore has completed a review of the import conditions for live domestic birds (including day-old chicks, domestic birds), poultry and poultry products, and hatching eggs, to allow the use of vaccination against High Pathogenicity Avian Influenza (HPAI) if certain conditions are met. These conditions are aligned with the recommendations of the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH). The amendments are as follows:a. Conditions for importation of poultry and poultry products To allow the use of HPAI vaccines (excluding live/live-attenuated vaccines) that comply with standards described in the WOAH Terrestrial Manual and approved by the competent authority of the exporting country. b. Conditions for importation of live domestic birdsTo allow the use of HPAI vaccines (excluding live/live-attenuated vaccines) that comply with standards described in the WOAH Terrestrial Manual and approved by the competent authority of the exporting country. Details of vaccine used for each consignment exported (e.g. nature of vaccine and date of vaccination) are to be provided.  If HPAI vaccines were used, to ensure that the flock had been tested negative for HPAI within 14 days of export, using methods stated in WOAH Terrestrial Manual for detection of HPAI virus (e.g. virus isolation or real-time RT-PCR). c. Conditions for importation of day-old chicks and hatching eggsTo allow the use of HPAI vaccines (excluding live/live-attenuated vaccines) that comply with standards described in the WOAH Terrestrial Manual and approved by the competent authority of the exporting country for parent flocks and/or day-old chicks. Details of vaccine used for each consignment exported (e.g. nature of vaccine and date of vaccination) are to be provided. If an exporting country is not practising HPAI vaccination to control the disease, the existing import conditions for these goods continue to apply with no change.

The draft Regulatory Framework for the Use of Genome Edited Crops for Food and Animal Feed has been finalized and will enter into force on 1 August 2024.

The National Parks Board/Animal and Veterinary Service (NParks/AVS) had earlier reviewed the veterinary conditions for the importation of dogs/cats, and notified the WTO of the draft revisions via G/SPS/N/SGP/83. Following feedback received during the sixty days comment period, the following trade-facilitating improvements have been added to the draft revisions: Retained the current 7-day validity period of the pre-export veterinary health certificate;Amended the requirement for pre-export examination of the dog/cat to be within 7 days of export, instead of only the day prior to or on the day of export;Revised the required waiting time between rabies serology sampling and the date of export for Schedule III countries from 180 days to not less than 90 days, to align with WOAH Terrestrial Animal Health Code, Chapter 8.15 Infection with rabies virus.The finalized Veterinary Conditions for the Importation of Dogs/Cats for Countries/Regions under Schedule I to III will be adopted on 1 July 2024. There will be a 6-month adaptation period from 1 July 2024 to 31 December 2024 to allow the industry more time to adjust to the revised conditions – during this period, imports based on the previous conditions will still be allowed.

The draft Food (Amendment) Regulations 2024 (concerning food additives and ingredients) notified in G/SPS/N/SGP/85 will be gazetted as the Food (Amendment) Regulations 2024 on 20 May 2024 and will enter into force on 31 May 2024.

SFA will be introducing a Food Safety and Security Bill (FSSB) which will consolidate Singapore’s food-related legislation across the existing Acts into one Act, include enhancements to Singapore’s food safety regime, and support its food supply resilience. As Singapore develops the FSSB, we will notify the relevant regulations to the WTO progressively when drafts are ready.This notification concerns “Defined Food and Pre-market Approval”. For food safety, the draft provisions are intended to clarify the responsibility of novel food and GM food companies to submit applications to SFA for pre-market approval prior to the sale of novel foods and GM foods in Singapore.A “defined food” is food that:is, consists of or has as an ingredient a novel food in respect of which no pre-market approval is granted;is, consists of or has as an ingredient a genetically modified food in respect of which no pre-market approval is granted; oris, consists of or has as an ingredient, in any form (whether whole or in parts and whether fresh, chilled, frozen, dried, smoked, salted or in brine, or as flour) an insect-like species which is not a catalogued insect-like species. The insect regulatory framework and list of catalogued insect-like species were already notified via G/SPS/N/SGP/79.

Singapore hereby notifies that the National Parks Board (NParks)/Animal and Veterinary Service (AVS) has lifted the import suspension on equids, equine semen, oocytes and embryos from Malaysia. NParks/AVS had suspended the import of equids, equine semen, oocytes and embryos from Malaysia in September 2020 due to the African Horse Sickness (AHS) outbreak in Malaysia.

SFA has completed a review of the Food Regulations and proposes the following trade facilitating amendments:a. Changes to permitted forms of steviol glycosides:To replace the permitted forms of steviol glycosides listed in Regulation 18(1) with the four types of steviol glycosides produced by different production methods to align with Codex;To allow the use of enzymatically produced steviol glycosides produced using the enzyme uridine triphosphate (UTP)-glucose-1-phosphate uridyltransferase (EC 2.7.7.9) from the source organism Bifidobacterium bifidumb. Changes to use of permitted food additives:To extend the use of L-theanine, a permitted flavour enhancer listed in Regulation 23(2), to salt substitutes, up to a maximum level of 15,000 ppm;To extend the use of sucralose, a permitted sweetening agent, to “soybean-based beverages” listed in Thirteenth Schedule, up to a maximum level of 400 ppm;c. Changes to permitted ingredients in infant formula:To allow the addition of new ingredients to infant formula (Regulation 252(6)), namely sodium salt of 3’-sialyllactose (3’-SL), sodium salt of 6’-sialyllactose (6’-SL) and 3-fucosyllactose (3-FL), up to specific maximum levels;To increase the maximum levels of 2’-fucosyllactose (2’-FL) and Lactose-N-tetraose (LNT) allowed in infant formula (Regulation 252(6)).

Currently, SFA subjects all GEd crops to SFA’s pre-market safety assessment and approval for genetically modified (GM) food. Following a review of the regulatory framework, developers can submit information to notify SFA on GEd crops that are equivalent to conventionally bred crops, and be exempted from the GMO pre-market safety assessment.

The draft Food (Amendment No. Y) Regulations 2023 (concerning microbiological standards for non-ready-to-eat food) notified in G/SPS/N/SGP/82 was gazetted as the Food (Amendment No. 3) Regulations 2023 on 4 September 2023 and will enter into force on 4 March 2024.

The draft Food (Amendment No. Y) Regulations 2022 (concerning veterinary drug residues in food) notified in G/SPS/N/SGP/80 was gazetted as the Food (Amendment) Regulations 2023 on 17 April 2023 and will enter into force on 28 April 2023.

The veterinary conditions for the importation of dogs/cats for countries/regions have been reviewed to:·         align with WOAH's Terrestrial Animal Health Code (TAHC) Chapter 8.14 Infection with rabies virus;·         re-categorise countries in the current Categories A/B/C/D to Schedules I/II/III based on assessment of the country's rabies risk;·         update the requirements for import and post-arrival quarantine for Schedule II countries (the current Categories B and C);·         include a new definition of "commercial" imports and implementation of ten days post‑arrival quarantine for commercial imports from Schedule II countries;·         revise the waiting time from date of rabies vaccination to date of import for Schedules II and III imports;·         revise the waiting time from date of rabies vaccination to date of rabies serology test.A summary of the revisions is in ANNEX (see Item 9).

The Singapore Food Agency (SFA) has conducted a review of the Food Regulations and proposes to include new microbiological standards for non-ready-to-eat (RTE) food in a new Part 3 of the Eleventh Schedule. “Non-ready-to-eat food” means any food which is not defined as “ready-to-eat food”[1] under the Food Regulations. [1]Ready-to-eat food”, as defined under Regulation 35(2) of the Food Regulations,means any article of food that is made available for sale for direct human consumption without the need for cooking or any other form of processing to eliminate, or reduce to a microbiological standard specified in the Eleventh Schedule, any pathogenic or other micro-organism of concern in the article of food; andincludes cup noodles, fruit juice cordial, squash or syrup, powdered beverages and other concentrated food which are meant to be reconstituted or diluted with fluids before consumption.

A new set of pre-import control measures will be introduced as a voluntary scheme for infant cereal products. Importers who are able to meet the imports conditions under the voluntary scheme can register their suppliers with the Singapore Food Agency (SFA), and will be exempted from the current requirement for Aflatoxin B1 testing for every consignment. For importers who do not wish to join the voluntary scheme, the current pre-import control measures remain applicable and unchanged.A summary of the pre-import control measures can be found through the link in Item 5.

SFA proposes the following amendments to the Food Regulations:a)    To specify maximum residue limits (MRLs) for residues of veterinary drugs in food;b)    To amend the definition of “veterinary drugs” in the Food Regulations to be in line with the definition used by the Codex Alimentarius Commission;c)    To adopt the term “antimicrobial agent” and the accompanying definition (which is consistent with the definition used by the Codex Alimentarius Commission) in place of the current term “antibiotic” and its definition in the Food Regulations.

The Singapore Food Agency (SFA) has completed a review of the regulatory position for insects and insect products and will permit the import into Singapore of certain insects for farming, and certain insects and insect products for human consumption as well as for animal feed, subject to certain import conditions.

The Singapore Food Agency (SFA) proposes the following amendments to the labelling requirements for prepacked food.A.  To amend Regulation 5 of the Food Regulations on general requirements for labelling of prepacked food to:          i.      require the declaration of lot identification that identifies the producing factory and the production lot of the food;         ii.      require the declaration of directions of use or handling of food where incorrect manner of use or handling of the food would render the food unsafe or unsuitable;        iii.      require the name of the country of origin of the food to be accompanied by suitable words (e.g. “Country of origin:”; “Product of”; “Manufactured in”, etc) and for prepacked food manufactured in Singapore to be declared with the country of origin;        iv.      amend the requirements for declaration of statement of ingredients as follows:a)      mandate the declaration of statement of ingredients under an appropriate heading (e.g. “Ingredients”); and for the ingredients to be listed in descending order based on the ingoing weight at the time of manufacture.b)      mandate the declaration of added water under the statement of ingredients except when:1.    water forms part of an ingredient such as brine, syrup or broth used in a compound food and declared as such in the list of ingredients;2.    water is evaporated in the course of manufacture;3.    water makes up less than 5% of the finished product; and4.    water is used to reconstitute dehydrated ingredients where the amount of water added is equal to the water originally removed in the making of the dehydrated ingredient.c)      exempt the declaration of processing aids.d)      mandate the declaration of presence of any allergen obtained through the use of biotechnology involving a food and ingredients known to cause hypersensitivity to individuals (as listed under Regulation 5(4)(ea)).e)      update the list of permitted general terms under the First Schedule of the Food Regulations and consequentially, to revoke Regulation 6(4).B.  To amend Regulation 6 to exempt food packed in small units, where the largest surface area is less than 10 cm², from the declaration of the following information on the label provided that the information is made accessible to a prospective purchaser through a physical document or a website or other electronic record:          i.      statement of ingredients (including declaration of tartrazine, ingredients known to cause hypersensitivity to individuals)         ii.      lot identification        iii.      statement for food containing aspartame        iv.      directions of use or handling of foodC.  To amend Regulations 9 and 9A of the Food Regulations to prohibit the use of claims or suggestion in relation to food that implies:          i.      that other food is unsafe for consumption;         ii.      that an ingredient permitted by these Regulations in food is unsafe for consumption;        iii.      the food does not contain a food additive that is not permitted by these Regulations; or        iv.      the food does not contain any substance that is prohibited in food.D.   To include a new Regulation 12A for food advertised or sold on online sales platform, to require the declaration of the following information on the sales listing of the prepacked food:          i.      Name of food         ii.      List of ingredients (including the declaration of tartrazine and food known to cause hypersensitivity)        iii.      Net contents and drained weight        iv.      Name and address of the Singapore manufacturer, packer, distributor, importer, export or vendor of the food         v.      Name of the country of origin        vi.      Directions of use or handling of foodTo include the definition and specific criteria for foods sold as “gluten-free”, “naturally gluten-free” and “reduced gluten”.

The Veterinary Conditions for Importation of Poultry and Poultry Products have been reviewed to facilitate the importation of chilled poultry into Singapore.The minimum shelf-life requirement for importation of chilled poultry has been shortened from the existing requirement of 14 days to 10 days. The requirement on specific type of packaging (e.g. Modified Atmospheric Packaging) has also been removed to provide the industry with greater flexibility on the technology to be used to meet the shelf-life requirement.There are no changes to the other veterinary conditions and accreditation process for importation of poultry and poultry products. For example, countries/regions wishing to export chilled poultry to Singapore must be accredited for frozen poultry, with a track record of exports to Singapore. Shelf-life studies and packaging information must also be provided by establishments interested to export chilled poultry to Singapore for evaluation.A summary of the revisions can be found here:https://members.wto.org/crnattachments/2022/SPS/SGP/22_5851_00_e.pdf