Wholesaler, manager fined for illegal import of meat products
\Wholesaler Sinoh Trading was fined $4,000 on Sept 11 for illegally importing meat products into Singapore without a valid permit.
The company’s sales manager, Zhang Lu, was also fined $4,000 for failing to prevent the offence from being committed, said the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) and Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) in a joint release on Sept 12.
On Jan 2, ICA officers at the Pasir Panjang Scanning Station detected anomalies after conducting a radiographic scan of a 40-foot container.
Further checks uncovered a consignment of undeclared meat products, with the case then referred to SFA for investigation.
More than 400kg of meat products were found to have been illegally imported from China without a valid permit. These included products such as Chinese ham, waxed duck leg and processed duck kidney.
SFA then seized the illegal consignment.
In the joint press release, the authorities said that food imports to Singapore have to meet SFA’s requirements.
“Illegally imported food products of unknown sources can pose a food safety risk. Food can only be imported by licensed importers, and every consignment must be declared and accompanied with a valid import permit,” they added.
“In addition, meat and its products can only be imported from accredited sources in approved countries that comply with our food safety requirements.”
Those found guilty of possessing illegally imported meat and meat products for the purpose of selling can be fined up to $10,000, jailed for up to a year, or both.
A second or subsequent conviction will see a fine of up to $20,000, a jail term of up to two years, or both.
ICA said that safeguarding Singapore’s borders remains its top priority, and that it will continue to conduct security checks to detect and deter illegal importation attempts to keep the country safe.
SFA said it will continue to safeguard food safety through its integrated food safety system, which includes strict import regulations and enforcement, and work closely with border control agencies to deter illegal importation across Singapore’s borders.
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