SINGAPORE — A 37-year-old man was fined S$22,000 on Wednesday (Feb 19) after he was caught with more than 200kg of food products in his Thai-registered truck at Tuas Checkpoint last week.

Thai national Pukma Suwat, who was driving the truck, was stopped for checks by Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) officers on Feb 10.

ICA officers found about 213kg of illegally imported egg, meat and seafood products in the vehicle. The case was referred to the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) for further investigations.

SFA's investigation found that the products included chilled pork satay meat, soft-shell crabs, pork sausages and salted duck egg yolks. The illegal consignments were seized.

Illegally imported food products are of unknown sources and pose a food safety risk, ICA and SFA said in a joint media release.

“In Singapore, food imports must meet SFA’s requirements and food safety standards. Food can only be imported by licensed importers, and every consignment must be declared and accompanied with a valid import permit.”

They added that meat and eggs, and their products, can only be imported from accredited sources in approved countries that comply with Singapore’s food safety standards and requirements.

Those found guilty of illegally importing meat products from unapproved sources face a fine of S$50,000 and/or two years in jail.

Repeat offenders may be fined up to S$100,000 and/or up to three years' jail. CNA

For more stories like this, visit cna.asia