Man fined $8,000 after truck found with over 1,200kg of illegally imported frozen poultry

A man was fined $8,000 for illegally importing meat products from Malaysia.

Anamalai Anadam, is the partner of Suri Rao Coconut Trading, said the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) and Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) in a joint statement.

ICA officers at Tuas Checkpoint detected a truck with a consignment of frozen poultry on Oct 1, 2022.

The consignment was falsely declared as processed food and the case was referred to SFA for investigation.

SFA's investigation found more than 1,200kg of frozen poultry that was illegally imported and the illegal consignment was seized.

"In Singapore, food imports must meet SFA's requirements," SFA said.

"Illegally imported food products of unknown sources can pose a food safety risk."

Food can only be imported by licenced importers and every consignment must be declared and accompanied with a valid import permit.

In addition, meat and meat products can only be imported from accredited sources in approved countries that comply with Singapore's food safety standards and requirements.

Those who are caught importing meat products without a valid permit can be fined up to $10,000 and/or jailed for up to a year.

Repeat offenders can be fined up to $20,000 or jailed for up to two years or both.