Chapter 11 - Export

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11.7.3 Singapore

11.7.3.1 General information

A permit from the Agri-food & Veterinary Authority of Singapore is required for the importation of meat products into Singapore.

Meat products are subject to microbiological testing upon arrival in Singapore. Details that are available have been provided to each Area Office. The Area Offices can be contacted for further information.

Singapore has specific marking and labelling requirements. These can be obtained from the Agri-food & Veterinary Authority of Singapore. It is the responsibility of the exporter to ensure that these requirements are met.

Specific requirements apply to chilled pork. One of these requirements is that the chilled pork must be derived from gilts and castrates which have not been treated with nitrofurans, beta-agonists and porcine somatotrophin. With the exception of beta-agonists (see 11.7.3.2 (b) (ii)), the latter requirement is fulfilled on the basis of assurances provided by the CFIA that these substances are not allowed for veterinary treatment of food animals in Canada. The requirements over and above Canadian requirements are listed in subsection 11.7.3.2 below.

11.7.3.2 Import prohibitions or restrictions

1. The following products are not admitted in Singapore:
   • meat products frozen for more than six months.
2. Chilled pork:

   The additional requirements are as follows:

   1. Meat from boars or ridglings is not allowed to be exported (MOP 11.6.5).
   2. Beta-agonists: as one beta-agonist is now approved for use in Canada (ractopamine), written procedures should be developed and implemented by the operator to give necessary guarantees that this requirement is met. The procedure will have to be acceptable to the Veterinarian in Charge (VIC).
   3. Treatment with chemical decontamination: with the exception of the use of chlorine (see note below), pork treated by chemical decontamination cannot be exported. Operators of establishments where such treatment is used must implement auditable procedures that are acceptable to the Veterinarian in Charge (VIC) to ensure that this requirement is met.

      Note: Singapore authorities accept the use of chlorine on pork carcasses only, as per specifications of the MOP, Chapter 17. Chlorine is not permitted by Singapore authorities for application on cuts of meat.

   4. Packaging requirements: processing and packaging of meat products must ensure an extended shelf life (at least 6 weeks) for the products. The operator will have to provide a letter guaranteeing that the production is done under strict hygienic conditions, that the product is vacuum packed (or otherwise packed, e.g., controlled atmosphere), and has a shelf life of over 6 weeks.

   Written procedures to meet the above requirements must be developed and implemented by the operator and verified on an ongoing basis by the plant's quality control. The inspection staff is responsible for monitoring the operator's controls to ensure that only products meeting Singapore requirements are certified for export.

3. Beef products (see also Annex F for specific requirements):
   • Only boneless beef cuts (excluding any mechanically separated/recovered meat, processed meat products and offal) derived from animals of less than 30 months of age from approved establishments are eligible.
   • Deboned beef cuts must be derived from cattle that were subject to official ante-mortem and post-mortem inspections.
   • All ineligible tissues (brains, eyes, spinal cord, skull, vertebral column, tonsils and distal ileum, from cattle of all ages) must be removed in a hygienic manner to prevent contamination of eligible meat.
   • Cattle from which the meat intended for export is derived must be born and raised in Canada or in a country approved by Singapore; the cattle are not suspect or confirmed Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) cases and are not suspect or confirmed cohorts of BSE cases; the cattle were not subjected to a stunning process, prior to slaughter, with a device injecting compressed air or gas into the cranial cavity or to a pithing process.
   • Cattle from which the meat is derived must be identified in accordance with the requirements of Canada's national cattle identification program.
   • Under thirty months (UTM) animals must be slaughtered separately from over thirty months (OTM) animals and before the slaughter of OTM cattle.
   • Knives, steels and other tools, excluding carcass splitting saw, used to sever and remove the spinal cord must be used exclusively on carcasses of animals of less that 30 months of age.
   • Beef establishments must receive prior approval from Singapore authorities.

   *Refer to Annex 1 for the list of approved establishments*

Operators of establishments where beef products are manufactured for export to Singapore must develop, implement and maintain effective and verifiable control programs for ensuring compliance with all applicable requirements. Where eligible and non-eligible products are manufactured at the establishment, the control programs must ensure that non-eligible products can be distinguished from those that are eligible (through receiving, processing, and shipping/distribution). The control programs must include monitoring, verification and deviation procedures. The controls implemented by the operator to comply with applicable requirements must be reviewed and found satisfactory by the CFIA inspector. The inspector will verify compliance through usual inspection activities.

11.7.3.3 Specific or additional inspection procedures

Stand-alone cutting-boning, further processing and storage establishments, which are not normally supervised by an official veterinarian in Canada, must be visited periodically by an official veterinarian to satisfy the veterinary supervision requirements appearing on the certificates (Annex A, B, D and F). The frequency of the visits to such establishments by a veterinarian should be based on the complexity of operations conducted at the establishment and the compliance record of the establishment.

11.7.3.4 Additional certification

1. In the case of pork products, Annex A must be issued.
2. In the case of poultry products, Annex B must be issued.

   Note: In case of outbreak of low pathogenic avian influenza, Annex B-1 shall be issued in addition to Annex B.

3. In the case of prepared meat products containing both pork and poultry meat, both Annex A and B must be issued.

   Note: In case of outbreak of low pathogenic avian influenza, Annex B-1 shall be issued in addition to the above documents.

4. In the case of meat products containing less than 5% meat (pork, poultry or mutton) Annex C must be issued.
5. In the case of canned meat products, Annex D must be issued.
6. In the case of beef products, Annex F must be issued.

Note: As part of their import control program, Singapore tests imported ready-to-eat meat products for contamination with Listeria monocytogenes. When positive results are found, the importation of such product from the producing establishment is suspended until Singapore is satisfied that appropriate measures have been taken. The suspension applies only to ready-to-eat meat products. In order to avoid the suspension of an establishment for not ready-to-eat prepared meat products, it is required that the words "Ready-to-eat" or "Not ready-to-eat" as appropriate, be written immediately after the product description of prepared meat products appearing on the export certificates.

11.7.3.5 Special marking and packaging requirements

See 11.7.3.2 (b) (iv).

11.7.3.6 Other requirements

Canadian meat shipments exported through a port in a country from which Singapore doesn't import meat or meat product (e.g., transhipment through Japan or Hong Kong) shall:

1. be in a refrigerated container sealed under the authority of an inspector;
2. be sealed with an official seal, serially numbered, and the seal number shall be recorded on Form CFIA/ACIA 1454;
3. have the seal intact on arrival in Singapore; failing that, the shipment will not be accepted;
4. the temperature record charts for the time period of shipment of the refrigerated container to Singapore shall be produced for examination; and
5. the container must not remain in the transhipment port for more than 14 days.

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See a CFIA inspector to obtain certificates.

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Next page: Annex 1