Before & upon Entering Singapore
Please check the list of personal allowances before travelling to Singapore. If you have doubts, please declare your food items to the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) officers upon arriving in Singapore.
General Rule for Travellers
Travellers returning to Singapore can carry food products for personal consumption without obtaining an import permit if:
- the type of food product and where the food product comes from is allowed (see Conditions for Specific Types of Food;
- the amount is within the maximum allowance; and
- the food products will not be sold commercially.
Travellers should be aware of the risks associated with bringing in and consuming those food items.
We advise travellers who wish to bring food in, to select food products that do not need to be refrigerated, such as biscuits and other heat-processed food, rather than perishables and meat products.
When travellers bring back perishable food that require refrigeration, these foods are often held at room temperature (e.g. in a plane’s overhead stowage) for a prolonged period of time. This can lead to bacterial growth that causes food poisoning. Some of these food products, particularly meat, may also carry disease-causing bacteria and viruses from the source country, which may lead to the spread of those diseases in Singapore.
Please refer to the Good Food Safety Practices page for food safety tips on buying, handling and storing different types of food.
List of Food & Food Products Allowed
The types and amounts of food that can be brought into Singapore from approved sources are
indicated in the table below.
Due to prevailing health and safety reasons, the locations where food products are allowed to be brought in for personal consumption are subject to changes.
Meat Items
All forms of meat products, including cooked food containing meat
Each person is allowed a maximum of 5kg of meat products.
| Product |
Locations where the food product is allowed |
| Beef
|
Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Hungary, Japan, The
Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden, Uruguay, USA
|
| Mutton
|
Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Ireland, New Zealand,
Switzerland, The Netherlands, Uruguay, United Kingdom, USA
|
| Pork
|
Australia, Austria, Canada, Chile, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland,
Italy, Japan, Mexico, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland,
United Kingdom, USA
|
| Poultry
|
Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Denmark, France, Germany,
Hungary, Ireland, New Zealand, Switzerland, The Netherlands, United Kingdom
|
Seafood Items
Each person is allowed a maximum of 5kg of seafood products, out of which a
maximum of only 2 kg of frozen cooked crabmeat and frozen cooked prawn meat
is allowed.
| Product |
Locations where the food product is allowed |
Fish
products
(except frozen cooked crabmeat, frozen cooked prawn meat and live or frozen
oysters)
|
All countries/regions |
| Live
or frozen oysters |
Australia, Canada, France, Ireland, New Zealand, The Netherlands, United
Kingdom, USA
|
| Frozen
cooked crabmeat and frozen cooked prawn meat |
All countries/regions |
Fruit & Vegetable Items
Each person is allowed a small, reasonable quantity (i.e. hand-carried size)
of fruit and vegetable products for personal consumption.
| Product |
Locations where the food product is allowed |
| Fresh
fruit and vegetables |
All countries/regions.
|
Egg Items
Each person is allowed a maximum of 30 eggs.
| Product |
Locations where the food product is allowed |
|
Hen Eggs
|
Australia, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Japan, Malaysia (West), The Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Korea, Thailand, Ukraine, USA
|
Processed Food Items
Each person is allowed a maximum of 5kg or 5 litres of processed food
products. The total value of these products cannot exceed S$100 per person.
For cleaned dried bird's nest, a maximum of 1 kg is allowed and there is no restriction in
terms of its total value.
| Product |
Locations where the food product is allowed |
|
Processed
Food
Products, i.e. all food products
excluding:
- meat
- seafood
- fresh fruits
- vegetables
|
All countries/regions |
Bringing in Larger Quantities of Food Products
If you wish to bring in larger quantities of food products for personal consumption, you are required to:
· apply for a trader's licence or
· register with SFA and apply for an import permit for commercial food imports (including bringing in of food products for consumption or distribution at wedding, charity, exhibition, etc).
You may refer to the section "Applying for Import Permit" in Commercial Food Imports for more information.