On 8 January 2025, the Food Safety and Security Bill (“Bill“) was introduced for Second Reading and passed in Parliament. There are three main thrusts in the Bill: (i) consolidate and rationalise food-related legislation; (ii) update Singapore’s food safety regime to better protect consumers; and (iii) strengthen the country’s food resilience. The Bill, which was introduced in Parliament on 12 November 2024, had undergone a series of public consultations between March and September 2024 to gather feedback on specific aspects of the Bill.
For more information on the consultations, please see our March 2024 NewsBytes article titled “MSE and SFA Consult on Draft Provisions in Food Safety and Security Bill Concerning (i) Defined Food and Pre-market Approval; and (ii) Provision of Non-packaged Drinking Water” and our August 2024 NewsBytes article titled “Two Public Consultations on Requirements on Licensing, Food Import and Export, Food Marketing, Health Promotion in Proposed Food Safety and Security Bill“.
Consolidate and Rationalise Food-related Legislation
The Bill will be the main legislation that provides the regulatory framework for the food sector in Singapore. Aside from consolidating existing food-related legislation, the Bill also streamlines the requirements that are imposed under relevant Acts and establish common penalty frameworks. In her Opening Speech at the Second Reading of the Bill, Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Ms Grace Fu stated that such consolidation of food-related legislation “provides a common operating context, reduces complexity and in turn supports improved compliance with legal requirements directed at protecting public health”.
The food-related legislation which will be consolidated include the Animals and Birds Act 1965; the Control of Plants Act 1993; the Environmental Public Health Act 1987; the Feeding Stuffs Act 1965; the Fisheries Act 1966; the Sale of Food Act 1973; the Wholesale Meat and Fish Act 1999; and the Price Control Act 1950.
Food safety coverage
The scope of the legislation will be expanded from sale of food to distribution of food in all forms, whether through sale, donation or otherwise. This is because similar food safety risks exist in food that is sold and in food that is given for free. This is an expansion of the current approach, which mainly covers sale of food. Regarding food donations, it is worth noting that a food donor has legal immunity in respect of death or personal injury resulting from consuming donated food, if the food donor meets the conditions set out in the Good Samaritan Food Donation Act (“GSFDA“). For more information on the GSFDA, please refer to our August 2024 Legal Update titled “Good Samaritan Food Donation Bill Passed – Encouraging Food Donations Whilst Protecting Food Donors and Consumers“.
Two-tier regulatory regime for trading of food-related commodities
Part 3 of the Bill provides for a two-tier regulatory regime for trading of food-related commodities to standardise the regulatory approach across different groups of food industry participants and different food types. For example, for food imports, the regulatory regime will be as follows: (i) first tier: licensing of the food trader; and (ii) second tier: obtaining a permit for every food consignment imported. An exception to this regulatory regime would be the import of food for private consumption, whereby an individual can bring in a maximum of 15 kg of various categories of food for his/her use.
Enhance Food Safety Regime to Better Protect Consumers
The Bill aims to enhance Singapore’s food safety regime to better protect consumers and public health and keep pace with emerging trends. This is achieved by (i) providing more comprehensive offences that apply to all food supply chains, regardless of the commodity type or business activity, and (ii) standardising the penalty framework for offences, including aligning maximum penalties.
Strengthen Singapore’s Food Resilience
The Bill introduces measures to strengthen Singapore’s food resilience, including requiring licensees undertaking primary production activities (“Licensees“) to develop a Farm Management Plan (“FMP“), and relevant entities to comply with the Minimum Stockholding Requirement (“MSR“). In his Opening Speech at the Second Reading of the Bill, Senior Minister of State for Sustainability and the Environment (“SMS“) Dr Koh Poh Koon elaborated on these two measures.
Farm Management Plan
Licensees will be required to develop and implement an FMP to mitigate food safety risks, control disease spread, and ensure sustainable production. This includes putting in place measures and processes to address key areas of waste, feed, fish stocking, biosecurity and disease management.
Minimum Stockholding Requirement
MSR is a mandate to stockpile food items or agricultural inputs to ensure certain level of food supply during potential food disruptions. SMS Dr Koh Poh Koon explained that currently “SFA (Singapore Food Agency) only administers a Rice Stockpile Scheme (“RSS“), requiring rice importers to stockpile rice as an import licence condition under the Price Control Act. With the Bill, the powers to administer the RSS will be right sited with the MSE (Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment). Instead of a licence condition, the MSR will be made a legal obligation.” If the need arises, the Government may extend the stockpiling requirement to other essential food items or agri-food production inputs.
Implementation
The Bill will be implemented in phases by 2028, with the provisions relating to defined foods and non-packaged drinking water to be first carried out in the second half of 2025. The industry and the public will be informed ahead of the implementation of the relevant provisions to give them time to prepare for the transition.
Click on the following links for more information:
Available on the MSE website at www.mse.gov.sg:
- Closing speech by Minister Grace Fu at the 2nd reading of the Food Safety & Security Bill on 8 Jan 2025
- Closing speech by SMS Koh Poh Koon at the 2nd reading of the Food Safety & Security Bill on 8 Jan 2025
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