About 34% of Singapore’s chicken supply is imported from Malaysia, which banned the export of live chickens from June 1 to Oct 11 last year in a bid to ensure sufficient supply for the domestic market.
While it was only a temporary ban, it was criticised by economists and poultry farmers who were concerned that Singapore’s push to source chicken from other countries would have meant Malaysia losing a key export market for poultry.
In an interview with Malaysian media, Gan said his government had to diversify its options from fresh to frozen chicken, as well as other types of protein, when the ban was put in place.
“In terms of impact, short-term supply was disrupted. But we were happy to be able to work with our importers to see how we can ramp up supply from alternative sources,” he said.
“Now, we are exploring how we can continue importing live chickens from other countries, including Indonesia.
“Going forward, Malaysia will still continue to be an important source of fresh chicken.”
Singapore, which imported chicken from Brazil (49%) and the US (12%) before the Malaysian export ban, added Indonesia as a new source following the ban.
Less than a month after the export restriction was imposed, the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) said more than 20 countries received accreditation to export chicken to Singapore, which was pushing to secure additional supplies due to the ban.
Noting the country’s reliance on food imports due to its limited land, Gan said that Singapore would continue to focus on diversifying its food sources and supplies as it works to strengthen food security.
He also said there are many aspects surrounding supply resilience and food security, and there are ongoing discussions between Singapore and Malaysia on how best to collaborate with Malaysian suppliers and farms on issues such as biosafety.
“We have been doing this in terms of biosafety to make sure that the farms have sufficient biosafety measures, which ensures the safety of food supplies,” he said.
“At the same time, (we want) to look at whether there’s potential for investment in Malaysian production of food supplies, which will generally be led by the private sector.”