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Singapore introduces Food Safety and Security Bill

Amid growing food safety concerns and supply chain disruptions, the Singapore Food Agency passes its Food Safety and Security Bill (FSSB) to provide greater clarity, assurance, and credibility.

On 8th January 2025, the Singaporean government’s statutory arm, the Singapore Food Agency (SFA), passed its Food Safety and Security Bill (FSSB) to respond to current challenges and prepare for the ever-evolving food and beverage landscape.

Global diversification and growing demand

As the global food space experiences ongoing insecurity and volatility in the face of safety and supply chain risks, the Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment’s SFA gives the green light to detailed legislation to tackle uncertainties and gaps in food law.

In 2025, revenue in Singapore’s food market will amount to $13.09 billion, with data projecting it will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.48% between 2025 and 2029.

In recent years, Singapore has increased the diversification of its food sources and highlighted the importance of securing food safety for all consumers. In 2023, the SFA approved Spain as a new market source of mutton, Turkey and Indonesia as providers of eggs, and Indonesia as a source of live chickens.

The SFA also confirmed that while the number of food recalls in 2023 had reduced by 14.3% to 24, the number of food establishments suspended due to point demerit systems had increased by 40.5% to 52. Singapore introduced the point demerit system to promote food safety and spur food businesses to improve their food safety standards.

The Food Safety and Security Bill’s aims

The FSSB aims to consolidate and rationalise existing food legislation in Singapore, strengthen its food systems’ resilience and update its food safety environment to better protect consumers, foster industry development and prepare for growing trends. The new law sets out key provisions for consumers, traders, food businesses, farms, animal feed producers, agricultural pesticide users, rice stockpilers and agri-food supply chain stakeholders.

Singapore discussed and considered introducing the now-passed FSSB Bill on 12th November 2024, undertaking a First Reading in Parliament. With its focus on consolidating, enhancing and introducing new provisions, the SFA published its key features. Parliament then debated the Bill in a second reading in January 2025, which saw it gain approval from the SFA, with the body agreeing it will soon come into force.

Protecting consumers and public health by strengthening Singapore’s food safety regime attracts most new legal provisions under the FSSB. The SFA gave the green light to extend the coverage of food safety law beyond the sale of food to the “supply” of food. Under this expansion, the law now also covers food donations and free distribution.

The FSSB also requires key food distributors to maintain and keep records for traceability and recall purposes. The requirement strives to ensure the swift removal of unsafe food, food contact materials or animal feed to minimise their impact on consumer health.

Under the new law, the SFA will increase the maximum penalties and strengthen the food safety regulatory framework to implement more robust deterrence and tackle non-compliance. The SFA is introducing a new provision concerning food business licence approvals as part of these efforts. Stricter measures will apply to those who have their licences revoked, as well as associates of those operators, which will be considered when granting licence applications.

Safeguarding food security at the farm level is another prominent area of focus under the FSSB. In a new legal provision, the FSSB sets out measures to require local farms to develop and implement a farm management plan to address risks to food safety, disease spread, and water quality to protect consumer health while fostering a safe environment for sustainable and scalable food production.