On August 3, 2021, the Australian Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment issued the MAA 2021-17 notice, issuing the conditions for exporting frozen pearl oyster meat to Singapore.

Summary of key points

On 18 June 2021, the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) completed a risk assessment and review of the import controls for frozen pearl oyster meat (adductor muscle only) and reclassified the product from ‘frozen oyster’ to “fish and fish products”.

As a result, exports of frozen pearl oyster meat to Singapore are no longer required to be accompanied by the health certificate for oysters.

The re-classification by SFA of pearl oyster meat as a fishery product also means that the mandatory norovirus testing for all frozen oysters exported to Singapore does not apply to pearl oyster meat.

SFA now require that frozen pearl oyster meat comply with the following requirements:

• a. The pearl oysters from which the meat products are derived are harvested and processed by an establishment regulated by the competent authority in the exporting country.
• b. The pearl oyster meat products are processed under hygienic and sanitary conditions.
• c. The pearl oyster meat products meet the Singapore Food Regulations and SFA’s import requirements.

To meet SFA’s requirements, the department can now issue a FX46 Certificate as to Condition, with no additional endorsement.