Singapore Food Agency (Seafood)

1) The import/export of fish and fish products is regulated by SFA, Licensing and Permits Group, Food Trade Department. Fish means any species of fish and includes crustacea, shellfish, echinoderm, mollusc, and the young and eggs thereof and fish product means (a) any fish or part thereof; and (b) any product or by-product of any fish, which is intended for human consumption.

2) Importers and exporters of fish & fish products are required to apply for an SFA licence for Import/Export and Transhipment of Meat Products and Fish Products. The licence fee is $84.00 per annum.

3) In addition, an import permit issued by SFA is required for every consignment of fish products. The cargo clearance permit approved by SFA (Seafood) in the TradeNet system serves an SFA import/export permit.

4) A customs permit must be obtained through TradeNet before the goods arrive in/depart from Singapore. When declaring a cargo clearance permit in the TradeNet system, the product description must be clearly indicated and the product code, product quantity and product unit of measurement must be keyed into the following relevant fields:

- CA/SC Product Code field e.g. FFL0GP2R for live red Grouper
- CA/SC Product Quantity field e.g. 1.00
- CA/SC Product Unit of Quantity field e.g. TNE
- CA/SC Code 1 e.g. ID99999 (establishment/prefectural code)

5) Fish & fish products may be imported from any country, subject to the following restrictions:

- The import of chilled shucked raw oyster, chilled blood cockle meat, chilled cooked prawn/shrimp and chilled crabmeat is prohibited for food safety reasons.
- Live oysters may only be imported from countries, which meet SFA's requirements for a shellfish sanitation programme. The countries currently approved for such exports are Australia, Canada, France, Ireland, Japan (Mie Prefecture), the Netherlands, New Zealand, United Kingdom and USA.

6) Each consignment of live/frozen oysters, frozen blood cockle meat, frozen cooked prawns or frozen raw/cooked crab meat, must be accompanied by a health certificate issued by the relevant authority of the exporting country, certifying the requirements as required by SFA.

7) Import of the following fish species, including their parts or derivatives must be accompanied by a CITES permit from the importing and exporting countries because these species are listed under CITES. Please refer to www.sfa.gov.sg for more information.

8) Upon import, SFA reserves the right to inspect any imported consignment of fish and fish products. High-risk products such as frozen blood cockle meat, frozen cooked prawns and frozen raw/cooked crabmeat and frozen oysters will be subjected to mandatory inspection by SFA before sale. These products will be placed on “hold and test” pending the outcome of the laboratory analysis.

9) Please visit SFA’s website for more details on the import/export requirements of fish and fish products under import, export and transhipment of food and the list of product codes under resources.