SLAUGHTER-HOUSES AND MEAT PROCESSING FACTORIES BILL

Order for Second Reading read.

6.3l p.m.

The Minister for National Development (Mr Lim Kim San): Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, "That the Bill be now read a Second time."

The purpose of this Bill is to raise the standard of hygiene in slaughterhouses and meat processing factories to improve the quality and maintain a high standard in the processing of meat and meat production. The provisions of this Bill will ensure that animals are slaughtered in a hygienic manner and that the meat produced is wholesome, properly handled, and transported without contamination. Illegal slaughtering and the sale of diseased meat will be prohibited. At the same time, it is intended that meat canning and meat processing factories, of which there are at the present a number in Singapore, should also be brought within the ambit of the Bill. Some of our canners have in the past experienced considerable difficulty in exporting their products to overseas markets because hygienic standards, manufacturing procedure, and the type of meat used, do not satisfy the requirements of the importing countries. This is a stumbling block in the development of our food and meat manufacturing industries.

The provisions contained in the Bill will overcome these obstacles by ensuring that the slaughtering of meat, the process of manufacture, the hygienic conditions within the factory premises, are of a standard acceptable internationally and, in particular, acceptable to those countries to which our products are exported. Certificates will be issued by the veterinary authorities to manufacturers of meat and meat products who have obtained the required standards to enable them to export their products. This step will greatly assist our producers and exporters of meat and meat products to enter foreign markets and compete on equal terms, thus encouraging the development and expansion of our food and meat manufacturing industries and thereby providing more employment opportunities for our growing population.

Mr Speaker, Sir, to carry out effectively the provisions of this Bill and to encourage the development of the food and meat industries in Singapore, a new modern abattoir will be built. Tenders for its construction at Jurong at an estimated cost of more than $4 million have been accepted, and work will commence soon. This abattoir will be one of the best and provided with the most up-to-date slaughtering equipment in this part of the world. The new abattoir will also have a veterinary public health laboratory to carry out testing and examination of meat and the training of personnel in abattoir management, meat inspection and related aspects.

The first Part of this Bill dealing with slaughter-houses is not new, as it is merely a re-enactment of Part V of the local Government integration Ordinance. 1963. The provisions relating to meat processing factories are, however, new.

Sir, I beg to move.

Question put, and agreed to.

Bill accordingly read a Second time and committed to a Committee of the whole Assembly.

Assembly immediately resolved itself into a Committee on the Bill. -[Mr Lim Kim San]

Bill considered in Committee.

[Mr Speaker in the Chair]

6.36 p.m.

The Chairman: In clause 1, the figure "1964" will be altered to "1965".

No amendments have been received, and unless Members wish to speak on any particular clause, I shall take all the clauses together.

Clauses 1 to 15 inclusive ordered to stand part of the Bill.

Bill reported, without amendment; read a Third time and passed.