Managing National Food Stockpile while Being Mindful of Wastage, Nutritional Value and Food Prices

1 Mr Foo Cexiang asked the Minister for Sustainability and the Environment (a) how stockpiled food is drawn down on; and (b) whether steps are taken to avoid food wastage in the process.

2 Ms Poh Li San asked the Minister for Sustainability and the Environment (a) how frequently are food items in national stockpiles replaced to ensure nutritional value is not diminished; (b) whether the food items released from stockpiles can still be sold or distributed to reduce food wastage; (c) whether the cost of freezing the stockpiles in sub-zero temperature warehouses is borne by food suppliers; and (d) if so, how are they compensated.

3 Mr Ng Shi Xuan asked the Minister for Sustainability and the Environment in respect of the current national food stockpiling (a) by whom and how are stockpiling decisions made on food products that are not mandated by law; and (b) whether alternative proteins are currently stockpiled in addition to traditional proteins.

4 Mr Ng Shi Xuan asked the Minister for Sustainability and the Environment in respect of the cold rooms used for national food stockpiling (a) what are the measures to ensure an uninterrupted power supply; (b) whether such measures are legally mandated; and (c) whether the Ministry conducts regular inspections to ensure compliance.

5 Ms Hany Soh asked the Minister for Sustainability and the Environment whether the cost of prevailing food supply prices are taken into consideration when deciding whether food which are stockpiled should be drawn down to mitigate any sudden or anomalous spikes food supply prices.

The Senior Minister of State for Sustainability and the Environment (Mr Zaqy Mohamad) (for the Minister for Sustainability and the Environment): Mr Speaker, my response will address Question Nos 1 to 5 for today's Sitting.

Mr Speaker: Please proceed.

Mr Zaqy Mohamad: The Government works closely with the private sector to maintain adequate stockpiles of essential food items to serve as a buffer to ensure that our basic needs can be met in times of food supply disruptions. Our stockpiles are not intended as a mechanism to influence food prices.

Our national stockpiles consist of a range of items including rice, frozen protein and canned vegetables. We do not stockpile alternative protein.

The Government works closely with the private sector to optimise our stockpiling operations, including to ensure proper storage conditions and conduct regular churning to ensure that the stockpiled food is safe for consumption while minimising food wastage. The Singapore Food Agency (SFA) conducts regular inspections of our food stockpiles to ensure compliance with requirements. The operating cost of maintaining the Government-owned food stockpiles is borne by the Government.

Mr Speaker: Ms Poh Li San.

Ms Poh Li San (Sembawang West): Thank you, Mr Speaker, and thank you, Senior Minister of State Zaqy Mohamad. I would like to know what are the considerations for selecting or mandating some of these food suppliers to set aside food for the stockpiling and also, how may they be compensated, especially when some of these food may have to go into the stockpile? Also, what are the considerations in terms of sustaining the freshness of the food that is in the stockpile?

Mr Zaqy Mohamad: Thank you, Speaker. I thank the Member for her questions. I just want to assure the Member that our stockpiles provide a critical buffer, especially when you think about food resilience in Singapore and how we may need to draw down in times of crises.

As Minister Grace Fu shared a few days ago, we have now embarked on the Singapore Food Story 2, in which the stockpile is just one of four pillars. We will often try to diversify and rely on our local imports first, to ensure that we are food-resilient, before drawing on the stockpiles. There is also "Grow Local", in which we want to ensure that we have enough local supply before we draw down from the food stockpiles. Lastly, we are now embarking on a new pillar, "Global Partnerships", in which we are working with other countries to ensure food resilience.

Therefore, where stockpiling is concerned, we draw down only when it is most critical.

As I mentioned in my reply earlier on, SFA conducts regular inspections to ensure that our food is safe, they are not expired and more importantly, that we do regular churns as well in the system to ensure that there is adequate, safe supply of food in our system. In doing do, we want to minimise food wastage, to ensure where possible, we try to get towards zero food waste. I want to assure the Member that food waste is kept to a minimum in this regard.

On the stockpiling of food through the private sector, today, we have the Minimum Stockholding Requirement (MSR). But that is only just for rice. So, the rest of it is Government stockpile. I cannot reveal too much, as it involves national security concerns, as the Member may be familiar with. Our stockpiles are in consideration of not just the disruptions that could occur in the short term, such as pandemics or other forms of disruption, but also long-drawn situations where you have decisions, such as war blockades and other matters. So, we will keep it as that. There are certain details I cannot reveal. Rest assured that the Government does its best to minimise impact to food prices, to minimise impact to the private sector, but at the same time keeping food safe in our stockpiles.

Mr Speaker: Mr Foo.

Mr Foo Cexiang (Tanjong Pagar): Thank you, Speaker. Sir, my question to the Senior Minister of State is this: given the stockpile's aim is to be able to provide for the entire nation, I can imagine that the volume of food that is stored is significant. I note the Senior Minister of State's assurances that there is zero food wastage, but he also shared that there is churn to make sure that the food is kept fresh and suitable for consumption. So, my question is whether he can share a little bit more in terms of what are the strategies to ensure zero food wastage? Because we do not want to also impact the market; so, are the food used for community purposes, for example?

Mr Zaqy Mohamad: I thank the Member for his question and his concern about food wastage and how we manage this effectively. In my reply, I spoke about how we work with the private sector, commercial operators, where this is also quite efficient. Through them, there is offtake, there are ways in which we can minimise food wastage. As food expires, you also want to – I would not say on the very last date – but there are ways to churn them through the system.

I think that is important because that is an efficient market measure, in which we churn and at the same time, not impact food supply and food prices here.

There are occasions in which we may also dispose of them through food donations, but those are typically on a large scale, like humanitarian efforts, for example. So, those are things that we do sometimes. At the same time, how we dispose and how we do that, I cannot give you too much detail again because of national security concerns. But I want to assure the Member that we work towards zero waste. I am not going to say zero waste today, but we are working towards zero waste as we minimise some of the food churn.

Mr Speaker: Ms Hany Soh.

Ms Hany Soh (Marsiling-Yew Tee): I thank the Senior Minister of State for his reply. I understand that the cost of prevailing food supply prices are currently not taken into consideration at this point in time, but whether moving forward, we can take this into consideration and consider working closely with the Ministry of Trade and Industry?

While I understand that we want to ensure sufficient food supplies for food security purposes, we also want to take care of our merchants and hawkers in trying to mitigate their operating cost. And there has been feedback that there has been a sudden surge in some of the protein items, for example, like chicken, which, as a result, they are deliberating whether to transfer this cost to the consumers. As a result, it will invariably become a concern in terms of the cost of living.

Mr Zaqy Mohamad: I think we should separate the two. Our stockpiles are not meant to be a mechanism to influence food prices, not to find ways to flood the market so that prices of chicken or other meats come down. Ultimately, today, the main stockpile that involves private sector stocking would be just rice.

Having said that, as I said, it is really about stockpiling. We churn out through the commercial players, aiming not to disrupt the market. I think that is one of the key considerations for us. And therefore, we try to do it efficiently as much as possible without having to disrupt the market.

We should distinguish between stockpiling and price mechanisms for food and other supplies, because we should not then mess around with our stockpiles to try to influence food prices across Singapore. So, I just want to assure the Member that we do our best, but at the same time as well, let us keep the two separate: stockpiling and food price mechanism.

Mr Ng Shi Xuan (Sembawang): Thank you to the Senior Minister of State for his answers. I have a few clarifications. I note that no alternative proteins are being stockpiled now. Is it a reason of cost?

My second supplementary question is, in my Parliamentary Question, I do not think I got an answer on the measures of sites and the audits on the sites available, especially for frozen food. Will you be looking at uninterruptible power supplies and how often will you do the audits? Because, as you mentioned, with the MSR coming on board, there will be more sites allocated for such stockpiling measures.

Mr Zaqy Mohamad: On the food audits, as I said in my reply, SFA does regular audits on the food quality and food safety to ensure that the food, when drawn down, is safe for consumption. That is one. So, those are regular audits to ensure that our food supply is adequate and at the same time as well, safe.

On the locations, I cannot disclose where they are, but I can assure the Member as well that as we pick these locations, we look into storage capability standards, making sure that they are able to stock our food stockpiles in a safe manner without having to worry about supply interruptions. But I think for Singapore, touch wood, we have been quite okay with our energy and power supplies.

But I am quite sure with some of these warehouses, like the one I visited, for example, they have such measures in place because we are not the only customer that they have. They are also managing it for other multinational firms and local firms as well who require such food stockpiles. For locations that we pick, I think we have to ensure that they are of sufficient standards. And I can assure the Member that is the case.

Mr Speaker: We are moving on.