Singapore To Increase HACCP Certification

Singapore's Minister for Trade and Industry and Manpower hopes the number of local food manufacturers with HACCP certification to double to 35 percent within three years.

SINGAPORE, July 20—Singapore's Minister for Trade and Industry and Manpower Lee Yi Shyan hopes the number of local food manufacturers with the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) certification to double to 35 percent within the next three years.

The certification would help companies gain a competitive edge in the global market, he said at the Inaugural Asia Food Technology, Innovation and Safety Forum 2009 at Biopolis in Singapore.

Singapore food companies had built a strong global reputation for maintaining good standards in quality and food safety as they had increasingly adopted the internationally recognized food safety management system, the minister said, adding that 17 percent—about 330 food manufacturers of more than 1,200—in the city-state were HACCP-certified.

If food manufacturers planned to grow and venture overseas, he said, they should also look into technology innovation to develop more first-in-the-market products or enhance their processes and packaging for better-quality products with longer shelf-life.

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