SINGAPORE – Singaporeans will soon be able to get a taste of Turkish eggs after the Republic approved the import of the staple food from Turkey.
Making the announcement on Friday, the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) said the move increases the number of Singapore’s egg exporters to 19, up from 12 in 2019.
Before Turkey, the last country to add eggs in the Singapore basket was Indonesia, which received the green light in April.
In a Facebook post, SFA said: “While we continue to strengthen our food security, we also recognise that no country can be spared from uncertainties in the global food supply.”
For example, it added, the worldwide egg shortage situation is the result of an unprecedented avian flu outbreak, supply chain issues and the rising costs of feed and fuel.
Around two-thirds of Singapore’s eggs are imported, with the vast majority coming from Malaysia. The rest are sourced from countries such as Australia, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Poland, Spain and Thailand. The remaining one-third is produced domestically.
Singapore currently has three local egg farms that supply about 30 per cent of the country’s demand. That is set to increase to about 50 per cent once a fourth farm starts operating in 2024.
SFA had previously said imported eggs must come from accredited sources that meet the agency’s strict food safety and animal health standards.
As part of the accreditation process, SFA assesses the exporting country’s veterinary services, legislation, animal disease status and control measures, among other things. For example, eggs and poultry can be imported only from bird flu-free regions.
Source : TheStraitsTimes