IMPORT OF MEAT, FRUITS AND VEGETABLES (Inspection unit)

Mr Yeo Choo Kok asked the Minister for the Environment (a) how often are checks made on imported meat, fruits and vegetables to ensure that they are safe for consumption; and (b) whether his Ministry will set up an inspection or examination unit at the Pasir Panjang Wholesale Centre to expedite the examination process and to minimise the inconvenience suffered by vegetable and fruit importers.

The Minister for the Environment (Dr Ahmad Mattar): Mr Speaker, Sir, my Ministry samples all sorts of food for laboratory analyses daily. When a particular type of food is suspected to be unsafe for consumption, the sampling frequency for that food increases and checks are intensified.

Each year, more than 8,000 food samples are analysed. This number of sampling is adequate, according to the guidelines set by the World Health Organization. However, in 1986, as a result of a pesticide residue problem and the Chernobyl incident which brought about an extensive check on radioactive contamination in imported food, the total number of food samples analysed rose to 22,137. The total number of samples taken for fruits and vegetables alone came to 2,334.

Sir, the checking of meat is not done by my Ministry but by the Primary Production Department under the Ministry of National Development.

Sir, everything is being done to expedite the testing of vegetables for pesticide residue, so that importers will be subjected to the minimum inconvenience. My reply to the suggestion that my Ministry sets up an inspection unit at the Pasir Panjang Wholesale Centre to expedite the examination process is that it is not necessary.

The present laboratory, where the vegetable samples are brought to, is only 15 minutes away from the Wholesale Centre. The equipment at this laboratory has been specially put aside to test the vegetables. And as soon as the results are known, they are relayed by telephone to the Health Inspector stationed at the Wholesale Centre, who will inform the importers immediately. Those consignments which are satisfactory will be released while those which are unsatisfactory will be destroyed under the supervision of the health inspector.

Sir, my Ministry has also taken other measures to minimize inconvenience to the importers. For instance, a cold room has been reserved for the importers to store their vegetables that are placed under seal and awaiting results.

Mr Tan Soo Khoon (Alexandra): Sir, given the intensity and efficiency of the checks conducted by the Ministry of the Environment, could the Minister explain why when the high levels of pesticides were found on vegetables imported from Malaysia in August, the public was not informed at that time and they found out about it only in late February?

Dr Ahmad Mattar: Mr Speaker, Sir, when the problem of excessive pesticides in vegetables from Malaysia was first detected, the situation was not considered serious enough. Let me explain the whole situation. The pesticide in question was dithiocarbamate or CS2. CS2 itself is not a carcinogen. But when it is heated, it produces a compound known as ethylenethiourea (ETU) which has been known to be carcinogenic in animals. Evidence of its carcinogenicity in human beings has not been found. When the problem was first detected, it was not considered serious enough to raise public alarm because the amount of ETU formed from the excess of CS2 found was below the Acceptable Daily Intake levels of the FAO and WHO. But in the meantime we informed the consumers to wash the vegetables before cooking them because, by washing, between 90% and 95% of the residue would be washed off.

Mr Yeo Choo Kok: Sir, is it possible for the Ministry to conduct an inspection of vegetables at the Wholesale Centre on a daily basis? Is he aware that the issue of excessive use of pesticide was first published by a mosquito press in Malaysia in 1983? My last question is: why did the importers at first refuse to let the vegetables be sampled?

Dr Ahmad Mattar: It is true that in 1983, as mentioned by the hon. Member for Delta, there was a report in the Malaysian press that farmers in Cameron Highlands were using pesticides that were banned by the Malaysian authorities. But the pesticides used then were not dithiocarbamate, as I have mentioned earlier. The pesticides used then - if I remember correctly - went by the name of Parathion. Is there such a thing, Member for Buona Vista? Parathion?

Dr Ang Kok Peng: Yes.

Dr Ahmad Mattar: And Lannate. These are insecticides which are found to be highly toxic. In fact, Parathion is a bi- product of the nerve gas developed by the Germans in the Second World War. We did monitor the situation and, fortunately, traces of these two pesticides were not found.

The answer to the second question is this. Mr Speaker, Sir, nobody likes his goods checked, especially when he knows that the checking may lead to confiscation of the goods. Money is involved. The local importers of Malaysian vegetables were already unhappy when we began to mount enforcement action in August last year. And I suppose what they did last month was an attempt to prevent law enforcement officers from doing their job. The importers refused to unload the baskets of vegetables unless the Ministry issued them with a statement to say that the Ministry had confiscated the vegetables for suspicion of contamination. And with the statement, they would then lodge claims with the suppliers. Officers from the Food Control Department of my Ministry explained to them that it was not the intention of the Ministry to confiscate the vegetables without first testing them, and only after testing and those consignments found unsatisfactory, would they be confiscated and destroyed. To cut a long story short, Sir, fortunately prudence and common sense prevailed. After some persuasion from my Public Health Inspectors, the local importers of these vegetables finally decided to cooperate.

Mr Yeo Choo Kok: What about the daily inspection? You have not answered my question yet.

Dr Ahmad Mattar: It is being done now.

Mr Tan Soo Khoon: I am at a loss with all these chemical terms. But from the Minister's answer I gather that the level of pesticides since August was strong enough to be carcinogenic when the vegetables were heated. So my question is: why is it that his Ministry allowed Singaporeans to consume cancer-causing vegetables for six months before taking any action? That is my question.

Dr Ahmad Mattar: Mr Speaker, Sir, I think the Member for Alexandra is assuming that the vegetables are not washed before they are consumed. I said that if the vegetables are properly washed, 90% to 95% of the residue can be removed. At at the peak of the incident, the amount of pesticide residue detected was 30 parts per million as against the allowable limit of 2 parts per million. So if you washed the vegetables properly, it would be removed.

Mr Tan Soo Khoon: Sir, I agree. But why is it that his Ministry did not warn the public in August to wash the vegetables thoroughly, when this high level of pesticides was first discovered?

Dr Ahmad Mattar: As I mentioned earlier, when we first detected it, although the situation was not serious enough to raise a public alarm, that does not mean that we did not do anything. My Ministry maintains the view that excessive pesticides in vegetables is undesirable. Consequently, we took the matter up with the Malaysian authorities for them to issue appropriate advice to the farmers to change their farming methods. I also took up the matter with officials of the Malaysian Ministry of Agriculture at a meeting arranged by my counterpart, the Malaysian Minister for Science, Technology and Environment, when I went up to Kuala lumpur last year. And again this matter was raised by the former Minister for National Development, the late Mr Teh Cheang Wan, when the Malaysian Deputy Minister for Agriculture was in Singapore shortly after my return from Kuala Lumpur.

Apart from approaching the Malaysian authorities, we also urged the importers of Malaysian vegetables to get the farmers to stop using pesticides excessively. In the meantime, we asked the local consumers to wash vegetables before cooking them. So we have done all that.

Mr Tan Soo Khoon: I am sorry, Sir. Does the Minister not agree that it would have been more prudent to advise the public to wash the vegetables, in August rather than to do it six months' later?

Dr Ahmad Mattar: I think the Member for Alexandra missed my point. We have been advising the public to wash the vegetables as early as August. We re- emphasized it again last month when the whole thing came up in the press.

Dr Wang Kai Yuen (Bukit Timah): Sir, would the Minister state categorically that public health has not been endangered by the course of action the Minister has pursued?

Dr Ahmad Mattar: Mr Speaker, Sir, I would like to assure this House and Singaporeans, in general, that my Ministry will continue to monitor the situation and be rest assured that consignments that are found to be unsatisfactory will be confiscated and destroyed. There is no compromise in so far as public health is concerned.

Mr Yeo Choo Kok: Sir, is the Minister aware that we have to save water from time to time?

Dr Ahmad Mattar: I suppose when we have to wash vegetables for the sake of our health, we have to use water.