Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore

Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore
Agency overview
Formed April 1, 2000 (2000-04-01)
Preceding agency
  • Primary Production Department (PPD)
Jurisdiction Government of Singapore
Headquarters 52 Jurong Gateway Road, #14-01, Singapore 608550
Annual budget $125.75 million SGD (2014)[1]
Agency executives
  • KOH Soo Keong, Chairman
  • Ms TAN Poh Hong, Chief Executive Officer
Parent agency Ministry of National Development
Website www.ava.gov.sg

The Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) was established on 1 April 2000. It ensures a supply of safe food, safeguards the health of animals and plants and facilitates agri-trade for the well-being of the nation.

Functions

AVA's key functions are to ensure food safety, ensure a resilient food supply, safeguard animal and plant health, safeguard animal welfare, promote agrotechnology, invest in research and development and protect wildlife.

AVA is the national authority on food safety for both primary and processed food. AVA ensures the safety of all food from production to just before retail. AVA adopts a science-based risk analysis and management approach based on international standards to evaluate and ensure food safety.

The components of AVA's food safety system includes:

The food safety system is backed up by enforcement of food safety standards through a legal framework as well as through food safety public education on the collective responsibility of AVA, the food industry and the public in ensuring food safety.

Ensuring resilience in food supply

AVA helps to provide Singapore with an adequate and stable supply of food. It achieves this by diversifying the sources of supply to Singapore through efforts in the following areas:

Singapore's local farms provide a small measure of the nation's vegetables, fish and egg supply. AVA helps local farms to optimise their production by assisting them to employ intensive farming systems and safe food production practices.

On 19 May 2015 AVA stated that so far they did not received any feedback about Fake rice, made of plastic.[2]

Safeguarding animal and plant health

The AVA works to ensure that Singapore is free from exotic animal and plant health diseases.

Animal health

As the national authority for animal health, AVA administers a programme to prevent the introduction of animal diseases.

The programme entails:

Plant protection

To safeguard the health of plants in Singapore, AVA administers a programme to control or prevent the incursion of diseases and pests.

The plant health programme includes:

Safeguarding animal welfare

The AVA safeguards the welfare of animals in Singapore by enforcing regulations to protect animals against cruel treatment and educating the public on responsible pet ownership. The Responsible Pet Ownership Public Education Programme was launched in 2004 to attain the two objectives of promoting responsible pet ownership and to tackle the strays issue. Working closely with animal welfare organisations, AVA aims to drive home the message of "A Pet is for Life".

Promoting agrotechnology

The challenge of maximising productivity from limited agricultural land and sea is addressed by agro-technology and agri-biotechnology. By providing technical expertise and consultancy services AVA is making investments in new sources of food supply for Singapore.

Investment in research and development

AVA engage in R&D projects on production systems, breeding, nutrition, disease control, aquaculture and vegetable production. AVA develops testing capabilities to detect food contaminants, food pathogens and animal and plant diseases. AVA works in collaboration with institutes of higher learning, research centres like the Institute of Molecular Agrobiology, Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory, the Tropical Marine Sciences Institute, and the private sector.

Protecting endangered wildlife

The AVA protects wildlife by controlling their trade and preventing their exploitation. AVA have been appointed as the national authority responsible for the implementation and enforcement of the Convention on International Trade in endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

References

  1. "Head T: Ministry of National Development" (PDF). Budget 2014: Revenue and Expenditure Estimates. Ministry of National Development. February 2014. Retrieved 2014-09-08.
  2. "Fake rice made of plastic reported to have reached Asian shores but not Singapore's". Retrieved 20 May 2015.

External links

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