1. Prices of certain foods increased by as much as 35% between 1998 and 2003. One such item is the retail price of chilled pork. One may wonder, could something have been done to prevent or reduce such increases in food prices? May be AVA could have adopted a more relaxed attitude on our food safety standards, by allowing the import of pigs from Malaysia which was affected by Nipah virus; or Thailand which was not free of Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD). Sir, AVA did not do so because we could not risk Singaporeans being infected by these diseases. The potential threat to our public health and our economy was simply too high for us to take the risk. As a result of the import bans from Malaysia and Thailand, we rely more on chilled pork from Australia which is a more expensive source of supply. This explains the 35% increase of certain foods.

2. Sir, my point is this. The key consideration of AVA is more than just price stability and affordability, but food safety too. We have no choice but to balance between food safety on the one hand, and supply adequacy and price stability on the other hand.

From Risk Averse to Risk Management

3. Looking ahead, it will be even more challenging for us to balance between the two.We are seeing more frequent outbreaks of food-related diseases such as Avian Flu, Nipah, mad cow and FMD. Some of these, like the Avian Flu, have or could become endemic in our region. To avoid seeing more volatility in food supply and more drastic increase in food prices, we will have to come up with a more effective and pragmatic approach in managing food imports in future.

4. Sir, I am pleased to share with this house that AVA is now ready to adopt a risk management, instead of the current risk averse approach in screening food supply. Our aim is to alleviate a tight supply situation by accepting manageable risk, rather to hope for no-risk solution at all cost all the times. Such a risk management approach is now more appropriate for us for three reasons. First, we have built up a stronger base of knowledge and experience from the handling of food crises, such as the Avian Flu outbreak in Kelantan last year. Second, our lab testing facilities are now more advanced. For example, we can now quickly detect animal disease agents such as the Avian Flu virus as well as other foodborne hazards. Third, international food safety organizations have also set guidelines to allow food imports from disease-affected countries under stringent controls. Briefly speaking, our risk management approach will comprise the following strategies:-

Adopting a Zonal Approach to Manage Food Crises

5. To allow food import from a disease-infected country to continue, but only from specific disease-free zones established in the country. In fact, this was what happened during the Avian Flu outbreak in Kelantan last year. AVA worked closely with the Malaysian Department of Veterinary Services to quickly isolate and establish Johore and Malacca as disease-free zones.

6. AVA is open to applying the zonal approach to other food source countries.

Diversifying Supply Sources

7. Another strategy is to continue to diversify our supply sources. In 2004, our traders imported pork and pork products from 18 countries, poultry and poultry products from 15 countries, vegetables from 20 countries, and fish and fish products from more than 80 countries.We will continue such efforts so that more countries can export more types of food products to Singapore.

Conclusion

8. I wish to assure the House that with this move towards a risk management approach, AVA will be able to further enhance the reliability and stability of our food supply. Our ultimate objective remains to provide a safe and wide variety of food choices at affordable prices for our people.

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