AGRI-FOOD AND VETERINARY AUTHORITY (AMENDMENT) BILL

Order for Second Reading read.

The Minister of State for National Development (Dr Vivian Balakrishnan): Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, "That the Bill be now read a Second time."

The objective of this Bill is to provide for the expansion of the food safety responsibilities of the Agri-food and Veterinary Authority and for the transfer of the Food Control Department of the Ministry of the Environment to the AVA. Sir, let me explain the rationale behind the Government's decision to rationalise the food safety responsibilities of AVA and ENV.

Sir, ensuring the safety of food is an increasingly important public health concern world-wide. The World Health Organisation has estimated that one person in three in industrialised countries may get ill from eating unsafe food. As Singapore is heavily dependent on food imports, we are vulnerable to public health risk from unsafe food from around the world. Food production is now a globalised business. We have observed incidences of unsafe food causing food poisoning outbreaks on an international dimension. Food made in one country can use ingredients from other countries, some of which may not meet our safety standards. Members of this House may recall the dioxin incident that Singapore experienced in 1999. AVA and ENV then had to take certain imported food products off the shelves, because of the dioxin contaminated food products from Europe.

Progress in food biotechnology, and the use of new additives in food production, present new challenges to our food safety system. In view of these new technologies, all new chemicals, which can present new health risk to our population, the Government sees a strategic need to further strengthen our food safety system to minimise these risks.

Currently, food safety in Singapore is under the purview of the AVA and the Ministry of the Environment. The demarcation of food safety responsibilities is generally by food types. The AVA regulates the safety of primary food, ie, meat and fish, and their products, raw milk, eggs, fresh fruits and vegetables. The Ministry of the Environment currently regulates the safety of processed foods, as well as for handling of all food at retail. This demarcation applies to both imported as well as locally produced food.

Sir, this current mode of demarcation of food safety, between the AVA and the Ministry of the Environment, is not always clear or intuitive. The general public and the people in the food industry are sometimes confused as to the responsibilities of each agency. In addition, the AVA and the Ministry of the Environment adopt different approaches to food safety control for imported food. The AVA emphasises safe standards at the sources of food supply, while the Ministry of the Environment relies mainly on monitoring of food products at the retail end.

Sir, in order to strengthen our food safety system, the food safety responsibilities of the AVA and the Ministry of the Environment will be rationalised along the lines of the food supply chain, rather than by food types. AVA will now regulate the safety of all food from production, to import and wholesale, right up to just before retail. AVA will also set food safety standards, enforce them, and oversee food labelling. The Ministry of the Environment will now regulate the safety of all food at the retail end, by ensuring proper food handling, and preparation at restaurants, supermarkets and other food retailers, such as shops, hawkers and market stalls.

With this rationalisation, both the AVA and the Ministry of the Environment will continue to work closely to increase the robustness and responsiveness of our food safety system, as it capitalises on the inherent strengths and expertise of the two agencies. AVA's expertise in pre-market approval, backed by its up-to-date diagnostic capabilities, will ensure that food arriving at the retail end is safe and wholesome. The Ministry of the Environment will focus its capabilities in food hygiene and environmental public health at the retail outlets. The synergy attained in such a structure will ensure that food safety standards are applied consistently to locally produced, as well as imported food, and all food imports will come under our food safety net.

This rationalisation of food safety responsibilities between the AVA and the Ministry of the Environment will take effect on 1st July 2002.

Mr Speaker, Sir, I will now touch on the main features of the Bill.

The definition of "primary food" has been deleted and references to "primary food" throughout the Bill have been amended to "food", in order to reflect the enlarged scope of the AVA's food safety responsibilities.

The word "food biotechnology" has also been added to the definition of the "agri-food and veterinary sectors" in clause 2 to include genetically modified food and other types of food produced as a result of advancements made in food biotechnology.

The Bill also makes explicit the AVA's power to liaise, or collaborate, with any organisation for the purposes of determining standards related to the agri-food and veterinary sector by virtue of clause 4. This is because the AVA will take over the Ministry of the Environment's role as Singapore's contact point for Kodex Alimentarius Commission. This is an international foods standards body recognised by the World Trade Organisation.

Clause 5 of the Bill sets out the transitional provisions relating to the transfer of the Food Control Department from the Ministry of the Environment to the AVA. It covers matters such as staff, property, assets, liabilities and contracts of the FCD. In this respect, I wish to stress that the FCD officers who will be transferred to AVA will do so under employment terms which are no less favourable than those already accorded to these officers prior to their transfer. This transfer will enable AVA to accommodate the enlarged scope of regulating the safety of imported and locally processed food up to just before retail.

On an administrative note, clause 6 of the Bill amends the small "f" in the name "Agri-food and Veterinary Authority" to a capital "F", to emphasise the expansion of the food safety responsibilities of the AVA.

Sir, we are facing new challenges in food safety. The rationalisation of food safety responsibilities will allow us to better manage these challenges, to ensure that all imported food comes under our food safety net, and that food safety standards are applied consistently to both locally produced as well as imported food. With these amendments, the AVA and the Ministry of the Environment will be better positioned to deal with the threat of unsafe food, to further protect the health of our population.

Sir, I beg to move.

Question proposed.

Dr Lily Neo (Jalan Besar): I just want to seek a few clarifications. May I ask the Minister whether his Ministry has to set up a new department to look after this new arrangement, and how will his Ministry ensure that there are enough resources and finances to look into this area? Will this also mean that from now on there will be more inspectors going round to check on all the retail shops? May I ask why MND should not take over from the import stage right through to the retail stage?

Dr Vivian Balakrishnan: Sir, let me handle the questions one at a time. The Food Control Department of the Ministry of the Environment is being transferred to AVA, so we are not creating a new department. The staff, and their responsibilities and expertise, are coming across to join AVA. Of course, you may ask what about the name "FCD", which a lot of people are familiar with, in the same way that the name "PPD", if you remember the old Primary Production Department, was dropped when we created AVA. With this integration of the Food Control Department into AVA, we will also drop the reference to FCD. So the staff, their expertise, and their resources, will move across. We will not be creating a new structure for the sake of creating new structures.

As far as resources are concerned, let me assure the Member that we are not going to consume more resources just because of a re-arrangement of the structure. However, depending on the state of play in food biotechnology, and the threat assessment to our public health and safety, the Ministry will, if need be, have to devote more resources into this area. As I alluded to earlier in my speech, this is an area which is evolving, and there are potential risks - in some cases, deliberate, as for instance in food bio-terrorism, or in some cases, inadvertent. So, the need for vigilance and the need to be prepared to devote the resources to this matter will always be there.

The Member's next question was whether there will be more inspectors on the retail end. As I said earlier on, inspection at the retail establishments will be performed by inspectors from the Ministry of the Environment, not by officers from AVA. The purpose of this Bill is actually to create a clearer demarcation of responsibilities. I want to assure the proprietors of these establishments that they would not get two sets of inspectors descending on them and checking on them with different standards, and levying two different sets of fines. This will not occur.

On her last question, the AVA will be responsible for food from source, production, processing, import, warehousing, wholesaling and distribution, but we will stop at retail. We believe the Ministry of the Environment, which has got lots of experience and expertise in hygiene and in monitoring post-handling of food, is better placed to monitor things at the retail end. So that is how we intend to demarcate the system, for now anyway.

Question put, and agreed to.

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

The House immediately resolved itself into a Committee on the Bill. - [Dr Vivian Balakrishnan].

Bill considered in Committee; reported without amendment; read a Third time and passed.