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Aim
The Singapore Food Agency (SFA) is seeking feedback from the food industry, as well as interested parties on the draft Food (Amendment No. X) Regulations 2022 (deletion of standards of identity), which is tentatively targeted to come into effect in the fourth quarter of 2022.
Background
2 SFA initiated a public consultation from 21 June to 20 August 2021 on the proposed amendments to the Food Regulations to delete the standards of identity in Regulations 39 to 260, except where these continue to be needed for food safety reasons, or to support the policies that have an impact on public health. Comments were sought from stakeholders (industry associations, local food manufacturers, retailers and importers), as well as interested parties, on the proposed amendments.
3 At the close of the public consultation exercise, SFA received comments from 18 respondents. SFA’s response to the comments received is available for viewing at: https://www.sfa.gov.sg/docs/default-source/legislation/sale-of-food-act/summary-of-response-to-comments-received-for-deletion-of-stds-identity.pdf
4 SFA has assessed the comments received and plans to carry out the deletion of the standards of identity in two phases:
i. Phase 1 (tentatively targeted for fourth quarter of 2022) – SFA will delete 59 standards of identity that do not contain any food additive provisions; or are not required to interpret the food categories in the existing regulations or Schedules of the Food Regulations which specify the food additive provisions / maximum limits for incidental constituents.
ii. Phase 2 (tentatively targeted for 2023) – SFA will delete the remaining standards of identity after SFA has developed a food category system and migrated all food additive provisions to the food category system. This will address concerns on the impact of the deletion of standards of identity on food additive provisions.
5 This present consultation concerns the deletion of the 59 Phase 1 standards of identity.
Details of amendments
6 The draft Food (Amendment No. X) Regulations 2022 contains amendments to the Food Regulations to delete the following 59 standards of identity in Phase 1:
| Regulations to be deleted |
| 43 Protein-increased flour |
| 44 Corn flour |
| 45 Rice flour |
| 46 Tapioca flour |
| 50 Fruit bread |
| 51 Rye bread |
| 52 Milk bread |
| 70 Meat paste or pate |
| 76 Fish paste |
| 77 Fish cakes and fish balls |
| 80 Coconut oil |
| 81 Corn oil |
| 82 Cottonseed oil |
| 83 Groundnut oil |
| 84 Olive oil |
| 85 Safflower oil |
| 86 Sesame oil |
| 87 Soya bean oil |
| 88 Sunflower seed oil |
| 108 Whey |
| 214 Aniseed (Jintan manis) |
| 215 Caraway seed (Jintan) |
| 216 Greater Cardamon (Kepulaga Besar) or Lesser Cardamon (Kepulaga Kecil) |
| 217 Celery seed (Biji Seladeri) |
| 218 Chilli |
| 219 Cinnamon (Kayu Manis) |
| 220 Cloves (Bunga Cengkih) |
| 221 Coriander (Ketumbar) |
| 222 Cumin seed (Jintan Putih) |
| 223 Black Cumin (Jintan Hitam) |
| 224 Dill seed (Adas Manis) |
| 225 Fennel fruit or seeds (Adas Pedas) |
| 226 Fenugreek (Halba) |
| 227 Ginger |
| 228 Mace (Jaitree) (Bunga Pala) |
| 229 Mustard seed (Biji Sawi) |
| 230 Prepared mustard |
| 231 Nutmeg (Buah Pala) |
| 232 Black pepper or pepper corn |
| 233 White pepper |
| 234 Star anise (Bunga Pekak) |
| 235 Tumeric (Kunyit) |
| 236 Curry powder |
| 237 Almond essence |
| 238 Ginger essence |
| 239 Lemon essence |
| 240 Lemon oil |
| 241 Orange essence |
| 242 Peppermint essence |
| 243 Rose essence |
| 244 Vanilla extract |
| 245 Flavouring essences |
| 246 Monosodium glutamate |
| 249 Low-calorie food |
| 255 Agar |
| 257 Edible gelatin |
| 258 Fish crackers |
| 259 Prawn crackers |
| 260 Rice |
7 The legal text of the amendments can be downloaded from SFA’s website at:
http://www.sfa.gov.sg/legislation (select “Sale of Food Act”, then click on “Draft Food (Amendment No. X) Regulations 2022 (Deletion of Standards of Identity)”)
8 Deletion of Phase 2 standards of identity are not the subject of this present consultation. Industry members and interested parties will be given the opportunity to submit comments during the consultation exercise for the deletion of Phase 2 standards of identity, tentatively planned for 2023.
Request for comments
9 SFA invites views and comments on paragraph 6 above in relation to the draft Food (Amendment No. X) Regulations 2022 (Deletion of standards of identity). All submissions should be clearly and concisely written and should provide a reasoned explanation for any proposed revisions.
10 Submissions should reach SFA no later than 5:00 p.m. (Singapore time; UTC+8), 16 May 2022, through email, to the following address: WTO_Contact@sfa.gov.sg
