Company caught illegally importing over 230kg of vegetables, fined $9k along with its director

A company was fined $9,000 on Wednesday (Nov 9) for illegally importing vegetables for sale.

Honesty Enterprise director Chan Jeng Kai was also fined $9,000 for failing to prevent the offence from being committed.

The Singapore Food Agency (SFA) and the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) have been conducting joint operations targeting vegetable trucks which typically transport imported vegetables that are directly distributed to retailers and customers.

Between June and October last year, SFA and ICA detected over 230kg of undeclared and under-declared fresh vegetables by Honesty Enterprise.

The agencies also detected 470kg of processed vegetables in the company’s consignments which were not accompanied with a valid import permit.

In Singapore, food imports must meet SFA’s requirements.

Fruits and vegetables can only be imported by licensed importers, and every consignment must be declared and accompanied with a valid import permit.

Illegally imported vegetables are of unknown sources and can pose a food safety risk.