April 15, 2008

Singapore may lift ban on pork imports from Malaysia

Malaysia is hoping that Singapore would end a nearly 10-year ban on Malaysian pork in view of the city-state's attempts to secure more food sources.

Importing Malaysian pork could bring down meat prices in addition to the much cheaper freight charges, with a Singaporean pork importer stating that lifting the ban on Malaysian pork is long overdue. The pork importer also said there have been news that the AVA is currently working closely with Malaysia to explore possible pork imports.

Pork prices are much more expensive than beef and chicken in Singapore, selling at SG$18 per kg in the wet market compared to SG$10 per kg of beef and SG$5 per kg of chicken.

Jack Koh, president of Singapore's Meat Traders Association, said in November 2007 that he planned to lead a trade delegation to East Malaysia to source for frozen pork.

In 1999, Malaysia suffered from the Nipah virus, which killed more than 100 farmers and led to the culling of one million pigs. Singapore also had 11 cases of infection including one death in slaughterhouse workers who had contact with pigs imported from affected Malaysian farms. As a result, Singapore issued a ban on Malaysian pork.

In addition, Sarawak is now building a modern pig farm, which is expected to meet about 30 percent of Singapore's pork requirement by 2017, according to Dr Chin Vei Ching, senior assistant director of Malaysia's State Veterinary Authority.

However, AVA said it has not received any official application from Sarawak, and that the application would have to meet Singapore's food safety standards.