Singapore to source for meat and egg products from 3 more EU countries

Three more European Union (EU) countries — Greece, Lithuania and Latvia —will be authorised to export meat and egg products to Singapore, the EU, Singapore Food Agency (SFA) and NParks announced in a joint statement on Thursday (April 16).

With Austria, Belgium, Czechia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Sweden, the three new additions bring the total authorised countries up to 18.

The announcement comes alongside the recognition by Singapore of EU-wide regionalisation measures for animal diseases such as African swine fever and foot-and-mouth disease.

This allows Singapore to avoid countrywide restrictions and unnecessary trade disruptions to exports, as an outbreak in one region would mean only that region gets restricted, instead of the entire country.

Trade from areas outside the restricted region can still be conducted safely with the recognition of these regionalisation measures.

"This will strengthen Singapore's efforts to diversify our import sources against food supply disruptions and ensures a reliable supply of safe food for Singapore, which is critical as Singapore imports 90 per cent of our food supply," SFA director-general of food security Dr Abdul Jalil Abdul Kader said.

Dr Chang Siow Foong, director-general of the Animal & Veterinary Service, a cluster within NParks, explained that a robust animal health protection comes alongside ensuring food security and food safety standards.

"NParks is pleased to be part of this collaborative effort to assess and facilitate EU's proposals, thereby contributing towards Singapore's food resilience as well as trade partnership with EU."

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