Currently, Singapore imports close to 180,000 tonnes of live and frozen chickens annually, most of them from Brazil, Malaysia, and the United States. As for the 1.4 billion hen eggs we imported last year, the majority came from Malaysia, and a fraction from New Zealand.
AVA has been actively exploring additional sources for these food items over the years, so as to enhance food supply resilience. In this regard, Thailand, a substantial producer of poultry, is a potential choice.
Thailand used to be an important source of frozen poultry for Singapore until it was hit by Bird Flu in 2004. AVA suspended these imports to safeguard public health. However, since 2008, Thailand has put in place effective disease control measures and kept Bird Flu out. As such, AVA worked closely with Thai authorities to resume the export of Thai frozen poultry to Singapore.
During an inspection mission in 2012, we verified the disease control situation and evaluated the effectiveness of sanitary control in Thailand.
In 2013, AVA approved the import of frozen chickens from two establishments in Thailand, which were able to meet our import requirements. These products have been sold here since 2014.
More Sources of Thai Poultry
To expand our network of frozen poultry suppliers in Thailand, AVA led Singaporean importers to visit and assess prospective establishments there in 2016. Following the trip, AVA approved 23 more slaughterhouses in Thailand to export frozen chickens, ducks, and geese to Singapore, up from two previously.
First Import of Thai Eggs
AVA and the industry are also keen to source for hen shell eggs from Thailand, which had never been exported to Singapore before. Following satisfactory documentary evaluation, site inspections by AVA, and laboratory results submitted by Thailand’s Department of Livestock Development, two layer farms were approved in March 2017 for export of table eggs to Singapore. The first shipment of 325,000 hen shell eggs from Thailand arrived in Singapore in April 2017.