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

The Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment (“MSE“) and the Singapore Food Agency (“SFA“) will be introducing the Food Safety and Security Bill (“Bill“) which aims to enhance Singapore’s food safety and security regime and safeguard food supply resilience. The Bill consolidates food-related legislation from eight existing Acts into a single Act to provide an overarching framework to ensure consistency across the entire food supply chain. These eight existing Acts are the following (i) Animals and Birds Act, (ii) Control of Plants Act, (iii) Environmental Public Health Act; (iv) Feeding Stuffs Act; (v) Fisheries Act; (vi) Sale of Food Act; (vii) Wholesale Meat and Fish Act, and (viii) Price Control Act.

To gather feedback on the proposed provisions in the Bill, MSE and SFA have launched a series of public consultations on the following aspects of the Bill:

(a)           Defined food and pre-market approval;

(b)           Provision of non-packaged drinking water;

(c)           Strengthening resilience of the food supply;

(d)           Certain agri-food production inputs (animal feed and pesticides);

(e)           Import, export and transhipment; and

(f)            Food businesses.

The public consultations covering the first two aspects of the Bill began in March 2024 through the issuance of the consultation papers on (i) Draft Provisions in the Food Safety and Security Bill – Defined Food and Pre-Market Approval; and (ii) Draft Provisions in the Food Safety and Security Bill – Provision of Non-packaged Drinking Water

“Defined food” and Pre-market Approval

The Bill identifies “defined foods” for which SFA has enhanced regulatory interest in, and which requires compliance with prescribed regulatory requirements before their importation into or sale in Singapore. There are three categories of defined foods: (i) novel food; (ii) genetically modified (“GM“) food; and (iii) insect-like species as food. Under the Bill, insect-like species that are edible are defined foods until they are declared as “catalogued insect-like species”.  The catalogued insect-like species are listed in Annex I of the consultation paper on Defined Food and Pre-Market Approval.

The Bill stipulates that before making the novel food or GM food available for consumption in Singapore, food companies must seek SFA’s pre-market approval. The Bill formalises this requirement to submit an application for pre-market approval. SFA may grant pre-market approval after taking into account several factors including (i) the potential for adverse effects in humans; (ii) the composition or structure of the novel food or GM food; (iii) the process by which the novel food or GM food has been prepared; and (iv) the source from which the novel food or GM food is derived.

The consultation in relation to these proposed provisions in the Bill closes on 14 May 2024.

Provision of Non-packaged Drinking Water

The second instalment of the series of public consultations deals with non-packaged drinking water. Packaged drinking water such as bottled water will be regulated as food and will be covered in a separate consultation exercise.

Currently, pursuant to Part 9 of the Environmental Public Health Act (“EPHA“), SFA regulates the quality of non-packaged drinking water (e.g. piped drinking water) supplied by Public Utilities Board (“PUB“), which is Singapore’s National Water Agency, and other water providers. Part 9 of EPHA mandates water providers to ensure that non-packaged drinking water provided in the course of business is wholesome and suitable for drinking. To minimise the likelihood of non-packaged drinking water being unwholesome, water providers must also comply with prescribed duties. 

Definition of “drinking water”

 The proposed provisions in the Bill relating to the provision of non-packaged drinking water aims to ensure the safety of drinking water supply in Singapore. They will apply to drinking water producers who carries on drinking water production in the course of business, such as PUB. The provisions incorporate with some modifications the framework set out in Part 9 of the EPHA, which will be repealed.

The Bill defines “drinking water” as that which is intended for human consumption or for purposes connected with human consumption (such as the washing, preparation or cooking of food), but does not include water intended for consumption solely by animals.

Directions to address unwholesome drinking water incidents

Under the Bill, drinking water is unwholesome unless it (i) conforms with the prescribed requirements concerning the quality, purity and general appearance of drinking water, and (ii) does not, based on a prescribed methodology or assessment, contain “any contaminant, substance or organism, at a concentration or value that constitutes a potential danger to human health”.

If SFA is of the view that the drinking water is unwholesome, it may give written directions to the relevant persons/entities to discontinue providing services or take remedial actions to, among others, minimise or control the risks brought about by the drinking water being unwholesome. The relevant person/entities include the (i) proprietor of a food business; (ii) drinking water producer providing drinking water service; (iii) person who supplies drinking water that is obtained from PUB or another drinking water producer; and (iv) person who has a duty to manage common property comprising network infrastructure for the distribution of drinking water. Failure to comply with the directions constitutes an offence.

What Businesses in the Food and Beverage Business Need to be Thinking About

Whilst the MSE and SFA, in conjunction with other regulatory agencies, may have reached out to several businesses in the industry to privately gather feedback over the months leading up to the issuance of these consultation papers, it remains important to review the papers carefully and to respond to the submissions. As you do this, whilst these set of consultation papers may not address packaging and the movement of the food and beverage products, it is a no-brainer that the current review must have the full value chain in mind so as not to have gaps which could create unnecessary complexities for businesses.

Our Trade practice has deep knowledge into the entire life cycle of the food and beverage business from growth to import to sale to consumption, just to highlight some aspects. Do reach out to us for a one-on-one discussion on how the changes here will impact you. Do also proactively respond to the consultation. The consultation for the first set of proposals in the Bill ends on 20 May 2024.