What IRs have to do with our food sources

Ong Dai Lin, Today Online 23 Aug 08;

NOW even when an outbreak of, say, food and mouth disease happens in Brazil, the Agri-Food & Veterinary of Singapore (AVA) can identify other areas within the country from which it is safe to import pork.

This, in fact, was what it did in 2006, a change from its previous zero-risk approach of not importing any food products from countries with infectious diseases.

This same new approach — which focuses on using scientific methods to determine which areas are safe to import food from — is helping the AVA to further diversity Singapore’s food sources.

In future, the AVA could even use this to evaluate not just parts of countries, but individual companies as well, and work with those that have a good biosecurity system.

This was a suggestion by the International Advisory Committee of Experts that reviewed the AVA’s food safety and biosecurity programmes last week.

It spells good news for local gourmands or visitors. Once the integrated resortsare up, it means that a wider variety of gourmet meat products may be sourced and imported.

Dr Chua Sin Bin, chief executive of the AVA, said: “With the development of the integrated resorts, we expect more requests for gourmet meat, so we need to get our systems ready.”

The shift of approach has received praise from the committee, whose fourth review looked at a range of issues including the AVA’s management of bird flu, rabies, plant pests and diseases.

The AVA’s food safety and biosecurity systems were concluded to be among the best in the world, on par with countries like New Zealand and Australia.

Dr Gardner Murray, one of the four experts, said: “We noted there have been a number of significant improvements ... the management system of rabies and bird flu has been enhanced.” Staff have been trained and public communication has improved, he added.

He urged the AVA to play a bigger international role, saying: “It is important because what is happening (diseases) in neighbouring countries can move quickly to Singapore. It is a good idea to haveyour protection offshore and help other countries.”

Singapore's food safety standards still world-class
938LIVE Channel NewsAsia 22 Aug 08;

SINGAPORE: Singapore's food safety standards continue to be world-class, according to a high-level panel of foreign experts who have completed a review of the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA).

They said AVA has done well in using a science-based method of sourcing for food from markets with health risks, instead of slapping a blanket ban on such markets.

Dr Gardner Murray, who chairs the international advisory committee of experts, explained the benefits of Singapore's approach on Friday.

He said: "When one talks about zero tolerance, it's effectively saying 'no' – you feel a country may not be able to safely send you food, that is zero tolerance. But, if you're reliant on food for imports, you've got to look further than that and increase your source of supply.

"The way to do this is to use a science basis for making decisions on imports. It doesn't mean your standards of food safety decrease. In fact, because you're being scientific, the food safety risk minimises."

For example, Singapore continues to buy pork from Brazilian farms that are billed safe, even though the hand, foot and mouth disease is widespread there.

The panel also praised AVA's efforts to keep out bird flu within the region by creating a control zone in Kepri, a nearby Indonesian province.

"If you want to manage risk, you need to think about the sources of introduction of disease and one source could be neighbouring countries. And if there's difference with respect to the efficiency or the veterinary service, it's actually quite useful rather than build up a fortress for Singapore where you have a big wall around you," said panel member, Professor Dirk Pfeiffer.

Still, Dr Murray said there are areas Singapore can strengthen.

He said: "A key initiative that we see as important is developing intelligence networks within the region and globally - on food safety, animal and plant health issues - so that all this data can be brought together to enable improved analysis of risk and this will enhance food safety and biosecurity in Singapore."

The experts also said AVA should beef up its staff competencies through training and enhance its strategies to deal with food-borne diseases.- 938LIVE/CNA

Singapore gets top marks for food safety
Jermyn Chow, Straits Times 23 Aug 08;

AN INTERNATIONAL panel of veterinary and plant pathology experts has declared foods imported into Singapore as among the safest in the world.

This comes from the way the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) assesses food brought into the country, it said.

The way the AVA also speeds up approval for the importation of food, including gourmet meats like the prized Iberian ham from Spain, also came in for praise.

The four-member advisory panel, led by Dr Gardner Murray, has just completed a two-day review of the AVA's operations, which included visits to laboratories, food-processing plants and abattoirs.

The sale of Spanish ham was given the go-ahead in June after AVA officials carried out risk analyses and went over the literature, laboratory test results and information on the export of the cured meats to developed countries like the United States and Australia.

AVA spokesman Goh Shih Yong said the process used to be more tedious. Inspectors used to have to visit exporting countries to do spot-checks on the farms and factories.

Stringent checks, however, are still done when the meats arrive here, said AVA chief Chua Sin Bin.

Singapore imports 90 per cent of its food, including pork from Brazil, eggs from Malaysia and greens from China.

Although these countries have been hit by diseases, Singapore did not shut its doors to their products. Instead, it assessed the risks and continued imports from disease-free zones.

AVA was also commended for helping to keep trans-border diseases like bird flu at bay, and for working with Indonesian authorities to stamp out bird flu.

The advisory panel urged Singapore to build up and plug into the global network. When information is shared, disease outbreaks can be predicted.

Panel member Dirk Pfeiffer said: 'You can put up the fences, but they don't work anymore with cross-border diseases.'