Singapore (VNA) - Singapore is set to lift its 27-year ban on imports of pork blood products, paving the way for their return to its market.
In a circular, the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) said it had approved the import of heat-treated pork blood products from Thailand’s Bangkhla Pig Slaughterhouse after food safety assessments.
The agency said that each consignment must be accompanied by an official health certificate issued by Thailand’s Department of Livestock Development to certify that the import complies with animal health and food safety requirements in Singapore.
The agency also stressed that pork and pork products can be imported only from SFA-approved sources.
CP Foods Singapore will be the importer of the pig blood products from Thailand, and it will take up to two months before the product arrives in Singapore.
Singaporean authorities and relevant companies have not provided further details regarding the first shipment.
Animal blood food products, including pig blood and duck blood, had been prohibited in Singapore since the 1999 Nipah virus outbreak that killed an abattoir worker in the Southeast Asian nation.
In 2022, a woman was fined 8,000 SDG (6,000 USD) for illegally possessing and selling smuggled pork blood products./.
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