Singapore Meat Products Regulation

1. Definition & classification

Meat, as defined under Regulation 59 of the Food Regulations, refers to any edible part of the carcass of any animal or bird that was healthy at the time of slaughter and is ordinarily used as food by humans. This includes fresh as well as meat prepared through freezing, chilling, preserving, salting or any other process.

Meat and meat products include products that contain over 5% meat content, as well as animal oil and fat. Some examples of processed meat products include: beef rendang, pizza, and bak kwa.

2. Competent authority

Competent authority	Responsibility
Singapore Food Agency (SFA)	Licensing and registration of traders Inspection and sampling of imported products Review of novel food safety assessment Food regulation drafting
Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA)	Registration and supervision of business entities
Singapore Customs	Customs declaration

3. Market access approval

3.1 Accreditation of meat sources

Meat and meat products imported to Singapore must be from accredited sources. Businesses are suggested to refer to the Accreditation Database for Overseas Sources to verify whether the exporting country/region and establishment have been approved before initiating import activities.

Where an overseas source is not listed in the database, SFA accreditation is required. The accreditation process generally involves:

Accreditation of exporting country/region
Accreditation of establishment

Detailed procedures are available in the General Requirements for Overseas Farms & Establishments Accreditation and Overseas Accreditation of Food & Food Products.

For detailed accreditation requirements, please refer to:

In addition, Food establishments exporting products with less than 5% meat content do not need to be accredited by the SFA. However, they must be regulated by the exporting country's Competent Authority. Such products must be approved by SFA before export to Singapore.

3.2 Importer licensing

Importers must obtain a trader's licence before importing meat and meat products to Singapore. Before that, companies shall register with ACRA to get a Unique Entity Number (UEN) and activate their UEN with Singapore Customs through TradeNet. For more details, please refer to Step-by-Step Guide for New Application of Licence to Import Meat Products.

3.3 Inspection and sampling

Every consignment of meat products must be inspected for their wholesomeness, freedom from disease and spoilage, and sampled for microbiological examination. Every consignment of meat products must be accompanied by a veterinary health certificate issued by the competent authority of the exporting country, certifying the product's compliance with Singapore's animal health and food safety requirements, including veterinary import conditions.

For more details on veterinary conditions, please refer to:

4. Product compliance

4.1 Product requirements

Food Regulations provide detailed product requirements for meat and meat products. Some important parts of Food Regulations related to meat and meat products are listed as below.

Regulations 59 to 70 of the Food Regulations
Food additives: Regulations 15 to 28
Incidental constituents in food: Regulations 29 to 35
Seventeenth Schedule: Pathogen Reduction Treatments in Meat and Their Maximum Permitted Levels
Eighteenth Schedule: Maximum Residue Limit for Residues of Veterinary Drugs in Foods

4.2 Label

Every carton and basic packaging unit of the imported meat and meat product must be labelled with the following information:

Description of the meat product
Country of origin of the meat product
Brand name of the meat product, if any
Name and designation number of the processing establishment, if applicable
Date on which the meat product was processed
In the case of a processed meat product, the name and designation number of the slaughterhouse in which the animals used in the production of such meat product were slaughtered, and the date of the slaughter
Name and designation number of the establishment in which, and the date on which, the meat product was packed
Batch number and, where the meat product was canned, the canning code
Net weight of meat product in each basic packaging and outer carton

For more details on the labelling of meat products, please refer to:

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Covered Countries

China, Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, United States, European Union, Australia, New Zealand etc.

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