AVIAN FLU (Prevention of outbreaks)

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AVIAN FLU:

(Prevention of outbreaks): 8.

Dr Teo Ho Pin asked the Minister for National Development (a) how many farms from Malaysia are supplying live chickens and ducks to Singapore; (b) what are the measures taken to prevent outbreaks of the Avian flu; and (c) whether there is any traceability or information dissemination plan which will inform consumers immediately upon the detection of diseases of imported chickens or ducks.

The Second Minister for National Development (Mr Lim Swee Say): Mr Speaker,Sir, the Agri-Food and Veterinary

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Authority (AVA) has accredited 135 chicken farms, mostly located in Johor, and 42 duck farms, mostly in Perak, to supply live poultry to Singapore. AVA has also accredited 20 farms, located in Malacca and Johor, for the supply of eggs. Together, these Malaysian farms supplied about two-thirds of eggs consumed in Singapore, half of the chickens and 90% of ducks.

To prevent the Avian flu, in particular, theHighly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) from coming into Singapore,AVA only allows import of poultry and birds from countries or regions that are free from HPAI. Stringent checks are also carried out on all consignments of live poultry at the point of entry. These are supplemented by testing of blood samples collected from the live chickens and ducks as well as further inspections at the poultry slaughterhouses.

Within Singapore, at the local poultry farms, AVAhas imposed strict bio-security measures. These include restricting visits to the farms, disinfecting vehicles before they enter the farms, requiring farm workers to wear protective clothing, and securing the poultry houses against wild birds.

AVA has also in placecontingency plans which can be activated immediately if and when HPAI is detected, whether among the live poultry imports or at the local poultry farms.

AVA maintains close liaison with its counterparts inMalaysia and has jointly established the communication links and the protocol to stop imports immediately should HPAI be detected or suspected in chickens or ducks from Malaysia.

Under AVA's farm accreditation system, all chicken and duck consignments can be traced back to the farms from which they originate. In addition to the veterinary health

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documentation required for each import consignment, each poultry crate is labelled with information on the farm of origin. In other words, the local poultry slaughterhouses thus have the ability to trace and recall products from the market, if necessary.

Dr Amy Khor Lean Suan: I would like to ask the Minister what is the procedure that has been put in place to determine if the ban on the restriction for import of live chickens and ducks from Malaysia would be lifted. What will be the trigger point? Could the Minister also update us on the shortage of eggs in Singapore? My understanding is that there is a severe shortage. Why is therea shortage if there were measures to import eggs from other countries?

Mr Lim Swee Say: Mr Speaker, Sir, firstly, Dr Amy Khor asked what is thetrigger point for the lifting ofthe import ban. Basically, AVA will considerlifting the ban only after Malaysia is able to declare that Malaysia isfree of the bird flu. Under the OIE requirements, this couldtake place 21 days afterthe Malaysian authorities have taken action to eradicate the causes of bird flu. In this particular situation, Malaysian authorities culledall the chickenswithin the affected areaby20th August. So the countdown of 21 days startson 20th August. Assuming that21 days after20thAugust,there is no new case of Avian flu infection, Malaysia will be able to declare to OIE that Kelantan isfree ofAvian flu. That is the earliest day when AVA will be able to consider lifting the import ban.

Secondly, Dr Amy Khor asked why there is ashortage of egg supply in Singapore.Basically, local production of eggs is sufficient to meet only 30% of our consumption. The remaining 70% is direct import from Malaysia. In addition to that, over the years, AVA has encouraged the traders to source for

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alternative sources.Today, we have eggs coming from Australia and New Zealand but they account for less than 1% of the market consumption. The reason why these sources have not taken off isthe higher costs of the eggs. For example, eggs from Australia and New Zealand will costbetween 35-40 centsper egg. So, under normal circumstances, consumers obviously will go for cheaper eggs and, as a result, there is no demand for the more expensive eggs. In other words, even though there are alternative sources,under normal supply situation, they are not able to compete due to the high costs. Andwhen there is an outbreak, when 70% of the supply from Malaysia is being stopped,the supply drops from 100% to 30%, plus1% or so from Australia and New Zealand. This is the reason why we have this shortage today.

The AVA has alsobeen encouraging the importation of liquid eggs and powder eggs. For example, many of the larger users -hotels, bakeries and so on,over the years,have started switching to the use ofpowder eggs and liquid eggs. So, over time, hopefully more and more of the largerusers will looktoalternative solutions.

On the whole, I would say that on the part of AVA, we will do whatever we can to achieve three priorities in food supply. Firstly,adequate supply in terms of quantity, secondly, safety of supply, and thirdly, stable pricing. Under normal circumstances, we would be able to achieve all three priorities. But, from time to time, when there is an outbreak of diseases, like the case ofHPAI, I think some temporary shortage will be unavoidable and I hope thatthe public could bear with us as we go through this temporary situation.

Mr Steve Chia Kiah Hong: Sir, I have three supplementary questions. Who is

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checking on the price of these chickens and eggs to ensure that there is no rampant profiteering by the supplier and the sellers as a result of the AVA ban? The second question is: what is the Government's long-term plan towards solving this sudden shortage of supply due to severe disease contagion? What is the alternative supply route that the Government is currently exploring? My third question is: will the Government also consider liaising with the Indonesian government to rent land from our neighbouring islands to start modern skynet cover, also called concealedfarming, so as to prevent bird flu, infections by wild birds and keep a more stable supply of chickens for our future use?

Mr Lim Swee Say: Mr Speaker, Sir,AVA does monitor the prices in the market. But I think what Mr Steve Chia is asking is whether we can do something to prevent the escalation of prices.Sir, this is not possible because, as I mentioned earlier, supply has dropped from 100% to 30%. When supply is not able tomeet demand, obviously prices will go up.

Mr Steve Chia may want to know that,at this moment, more and more trading houses arebringing in alternative supply from Australia and New Zealand, andfrom the Netherlands too. These sources of supply will be more expensive.In other words, we are going to see prices going up in the market, firstly, due to shortage of supply and, secondly, due to the higher costs ofalternative supply. Therefore, price escalation in the short-term is unavoidable.

Secondly, Mr Steve Chia asked what are the long-term plans to prevent this sudden shortage in supply. As I mentioned earlier,we have put in place alternative supply from Australia, New Zealand and the Netherlands,as well asliquid eggs,powder eggs. The reason why these have not taken off in a big scale is

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thehigher costs of supply. In other words, today, consumers do havea choice. If they are prepared to paya higher pricefor the additional supply, the supply will be there. For example, NTUC FairPrice is bringing in eggs from Australia. By the time it comes to the marketplace, it will cost about 40 cents per egg. So for those who are prepared to pay 40 cents per eggfrom Australia, the supply will be there.

Thirdly, Mr Steve Chia asked whether we have looked into places like Indonesia. Sir, let me just point out thatin fact, most of the Asian countries are affected by theHPAI. In other words, today, we cannot import eggs or chickens from Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, China, Korea and Japan because they are all affected by the Avian flu. My point here is that while it is easy to talk about developing alternative sourcesin nearby countries,in practice, it is very difficult to do so because when the disease hits us, it hits the entire region. But, notwithstanding that, I do not rule out the possibility. In fact, in my dialogue with the slaughter houses last week, one of the gentlemen asked whether it is possible for them to pursue the concept, and I told them that AVA will facilitate. In other words, if they are prepared to put in the investment and necessary measures to ensure that a particular island or region issafe fromAvian flu,AVA is prepared to look into the possibility of accrediting that particular farm as a potential source of supply. But we will leave all these to the market forces to decide.

Mdm Halimah Yacob: Sir, will the Minister consider extending the rebate period for businesses that continue to be affected upon expiry of the current rebate period?

Mr Lim Swee Say: Sir, as I mentioned earlier, the next review on the lifting of import ban will be on 11th September.In the event that we are not able to lift the

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ban and that the ban has to be imposed for a longer period, the AVA and the relevant agencies will consider extendingthe rebate duration. The next reviewwill be on 11th September and we will take it one step at a time.

Mr Speaker: One last question on chickens and eggs. Dr Khor.

Dr Amy Khor Lean Suan: Thank you, Sir, back to the egg question. I would like to ask the Minister if AVA would consider allowing the local suppliers of eggs to boost production of eggs in Singapore to alleviate this issue of production going down from 100% to 30%.

Mr Lim Swee Say: Sir, on the part of AVA, we do not impose any limitation on the number of eggs that the egg farms are allowed to produce. In other words, this is purely a business decision.