Takeaways from the SFA Dialogue Session in August 2024

On 16 August 2024, three FIPAA member companies; AB Vista, DSM-Firmenich and Phileo by Lesaffre, and other animal feed companies, attended a dialogue session that was held by SFA (Singapore Food Agency) in their headquarter office. The objective of the dialogue session was to share with the animal feed industry the Food Safety and Security Bill (FSSB), to provide clarification/to seek feedback from the industry related to the bill, and to communicate that public consultation on FSSB is opened from 08 August 2024 until 29 August 2024 and members of the public could peruse FSSB and provide feedback from here: Consultation on Draft Provisions in the Food Safety and Security Bill (reach.gov.sg)

The FSSB is a consolidation of food-related legislation from the eight existing Acts and it also covers animal feed (which includes feed additives).  The act also introduces new enforcement powers for the government agencies, to strengthen Singapore’s food safety and security regime.

The bill stipulates some new requirements for manufacturers and importers of animal feed. One of the new requirements for manufacturers of animal feed is to have Feed Control Plan, which is intended for manufacturers to take up responsibility to implement preventive measures to minimize risks and assure fitness of the animal feed that they produce.  As for importers of animal feed, there is new requirement to apply for importer license. Other new requirements that are applicable for both manufacturers and also for importers of animal feed are the need to have plan to deal with disruptive event and to have recall procedures.

FIPAA member companies who attended the dialogue session are appreciative of the approach used by SFA, whereby industry is given the opportunity to interact with the authority and to communicate the concerns/challenges that they encounter. In all, it was a fruitful session.