SAFETY OF FOOD PRODUCTS FROM CHINA

SAFETY OF FOOD PRODUCTS FROM CHINA: 10.

Dr Lim Wee Kiak asked the Minister for National Development how does the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority ensure safety of food from China given the recent incidents of use or excessive use of prohibited substances in food products from China.

Dr Mohamad Maliki Bin Osman (for the Minister for National Development): Mr

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Speaker, Sir, AVA has put in place a comprehensive and integrated food safety system to ensure that food imported into Singapore is safe for human consumption. The system is science-based, and underpinned by constant vigilance to identify food safety problems as well as rigorous analysis of the potential hazards associated with the problems identified. Let me explain.

Consignments of imported food are subject to systematic inspection and laboratory monitoring for pathogens, contaminants and residues to ensure that the food products are safe for consumption. Such surveillance also enables AVA to maintain a database of useful information on the safety level of food originating from the different sources.

AVA also keeps a close watch on the global food safety situation to ensure that our policies and control programmes stay current. Where there are specific or emerging concerns, AVA may introduce additional programmes or intensify checks, if necessary. These could include checks on the presence of banned substances or contaminants such as malachite green or Sudan red, or viruses like the avian flu.

I would like to assure the House that AVA maintains stringent checks on food imports from all sources, including China. AVA has a long working relationship with the regulatory authority in China, and Singapore's regulatory requirements and stringent checks on food imports are well known in China.

Over the years, AVA has provided regular feedback to the Chinese authorities to facilitate their monitoring of China's food exports to Singapore. This has resulted in general improvements in the safety of vegetables and farmed freshwater fishes imported from China. AVA will continue to remain vigilant to ensure the safety of food products

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imported from all sources, including China, and intensify checks and controls, where necessary.

Dr Lim Wee Kiak (Sembawang): Sir, I would like to thank the Parliamentary Secretary for the very comprehensive answer. One of the concerns from all consumers is, of course, that checks are done but they are all random. It cannot be complete. I am just wondering whether AVA actually goes abroad to inspect the source of the food. Secondly, does AVA collaborate with other like-minded agencies, such as the FDA of the US, and share database with like-minded organisations in Europe as well?

Dr Mohamad Maliki Bin Osman: Let me take the second question first. The answer is yes. AVA monitors the world's food health situation daily through relevant Internet websites. Food authorities from other countries as well as Australia and New Zealand also keep AVA informed of food recalls or other warnings of that nature. So the answer is, yes, we work very closely with all the different agencies from the different countries for food warnings.

On the question of surveillance and monitoring, I think there are different categories of food that AVA monitors. AVA accredits overseas meat establishments, for example, and processed egg establishments. So, as far as fresh food products are concerned, they accredited the food sources. There are two levels of accreditation: first, they assess the country's system in terms of the animal health and food safety. In that sense, animal disease status, for example, foot-and-mouth disease, bird flu, and other food system, microbiology, antibiotic residue control programmes, will be considered for evaluation. Once the country's system has been evaluated, then AVA will look into the specific establishments within the country. So, they go into the specific establishments to

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assess their control measures to make sure that they are safe for exports. That is for fresh food and meat products.

For other products, like processed food, for example, the responsibility lies with the importers where high-risk food products such as preserved foods, vegetables, soya bean products, minimally-processed vegetables, flour, starches, and so on, are subjected to strict import control. So, importers of these products are required to submit documentary proof that they are from regulated sources and health certificates or laboratory reports to certify their safety. Also, samples are also collected for testing to ensure that these products comply with our food laws.