As revealed by SFA circular issued on Sep. 26, 2022, the exposure draft was granted approval and the amendment will come into effect on on Oct. 3, 2022. Food enterprises should still be responsible for the label accuracy and compliance.
In the mid of March 2022, Singapore Food Agency (SFA) announced the proposed amendment to Food Regulations, which involves the deletion of product identity standards1. This draft is tentatively targeted to become effective in the fourth quarter of 2022. Now it is seeking for feedback from WTO members until May 152.
SFA proposed to delete the standards of identity for food products in Regulations 39 to 260 of Food Regulations, except those that continue to be required or food safety reasons, or to support public-health-related policies. The deletion will be carried out in two phases:
Phase 1 (tentatively targeted at the fourth quarter of 2022)
The identity standards of 59 food products will be removed from Food Regulations. They do not contain any food additive provisions or are not required to interpret the food categories in the existing regulations.
The 59 products include protein-increased flour, corn flour, rice flour, tapioca flour, fruit bread, rye bread, milk bread, meat paste or pate, fish paste, fish cakes and fish balls, coconut oil, corn oil, etc. Please check the WTO notification for the details.
Phase 2 (tentatively targeted at 2023)
SFA will delete the remaining identity standards after SFA has developed a food category system and migrated all food additive provisions to the system. It is noteworthy that the identity standards of Phase 2 are not subject to the current consultation.
SFA clarified that the removal of food identity standards allows for product innovation as the stakeholders will not be required to follow a fixed standard of identity. However, it does not mean that these food products are exempted from supervision in Singapore. Food manufacturers shall ensure the food safety, and the industry can refer to any of the following regulations on product formulation and quality criteria.
The commodity standards (which are essentially standards of identity) established by the Codex Alimentarius Commission
Relevant national standards and industry standards in Singapore
Standards of identity in the country of origin (for imported products)
Standards of identity in the country that they intend to export the products to.
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