New agency for food safety in April next year
Singapore Food Agency to be set up next April, AVA to close in multi-agency reorganisation
From April next year, a new statutory board will be set up to oversee all food safety and security issues.
The Singapore Food Agency (SFA) will take over regulation of the food supply chain, currently done by the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA), the National Environment Agency (NEA), and the Health Sciences Authority (HSA).
As part of the changes, the National Parks Board (NParks) will become the lead agency for animal and wildlife management, including animal-human interactions.
The reorganisation involving four agencies and 1,150 staff was announced yesterday.
Currently, when a wild boar moves out of a park onto a public road, different agencies would have to be responsible for its welfare depending on its location - NParks takes charge of animal welfare in parks and nature reserves, but AVA would take over in urban areas.
The change means that NParks will be responsible for animals no matter where they are found, whether in parks or urban areas, taking over AVA's previous role of being a first-responder.
AVA will be dissolved as its functions have moved to either the new SFA or NParks.
The SFA will comprise 850 employees - 600 from AVA, 220 from NEA and 30 from HSA.
About 300 AVA staff will move to NParks.
SFA will be helmed by Mr Lim Kok Thai, chief executive of AVA, and will come under the Ministry of Environment and Water Resources (MEWR).
Minister for MEWR Masagos Zulkifli said yesterday: "We will also enhance food safety, because now one agency, SFA, will look at investigation, enforcement, as well as assurance for food safety."
Second Minister for National Development Desmond Lee told reporters yesterday: "From the public's point of view, rest assured that it will continue to be a one-stop approach, but (at the) back-end, we'll bring together the best of AVA and NParks on animal and plant health, as well as animal welfare, management and biodiversity conservation."
MANAGING OUTBREAKS
Having an agency dedicated to food issues could help in managing food-borne disease outbreaks. This can be done through closer coordination of responses, including product tracing and recall, as well as engaging stakeholders and the public.
The changes are also expected to benefit food businesses, as licensing requirements could be simplified.
For instance, food businesses that are involved in catering and manufacturing now need separate licences from AVA and NEA, but the process would be streamlined under the new SFA.
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