2002/03 Annual report - Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority of Singapore

AVA Service Centres
AVA Service Centres act as the hub for all activities in support
of AVA's effort towards food, animal and plant health.
Aquaculture Services Centre
Formerly known as the Freshwater
Fisheries Centre, the Aquaculture Services
Centre (ASC), plays an active role in
facilitating the development of foodfish
and ornamental fish trade and industry
in Singapore. The name change reflects
the expansion of services provided by
the centre. ASC provides technical
advice and support to investors, farmers
and exporters involved in the foodfish
aquaculture and ornamental fish business,
promotes and encourages the industry to
use science and modern technology for
the production of high quality foodfish for
local consumption and in the production
and export of quality ornamental fish. In
FY 02/03, ASC provided consultancy
services to local and overseas parties
and agencies on foodfish aquaculture
and ornamental fish projects. It provides
advisory services to dragon fish breeding
farms and monitors the performance of
captive breeding and trading activities in
these CITES-approved farms.
Central Veterinary Laboratory
The Central Veterinary Laboratory (CVL)
is the national animal health laboratory
and provides diagnostic services for the
detection and identification of diseases in
animals, birds and aquatic animals. It also
offers quality control testing services for
veterinary vaccines. In addition to playing
a supportive role to AVA’s disease
surveillance programmes, CVL also serves
farms, veterinary clinics, private and
government organisations, and members
of the public. The number of laboratory
tests performed reached an all time high
of 167,273 tests in FY 02/03, an increase
of 2.1% over the previous year.
Centre for Animal Welfare and Control
The Centre for Animal Welfare and Control
(CAWC) located at Pasir Panjang is a onestop
centre for matters pertaining to
animal welfare and control.
CAWC’s main responsibility is the licensing
and control of dogs in Singapore. It
conducts daily inspections at residential
areas and strives for a high level of
promptness in response to requests for
investigation. In FY02/03, it managed to
meet 96.5% of all requests within two
working days. CAWC also loans animal
traps to residents and organisations that
have problems with stray cats or dogs.
CAWC ensures the welfare of animals
by investigating instances of animal
cruelty and by licensing pet shops
and exhibitions of animals. Routine
inspections are also carried out on pet
shops to check that illegal and exotic
animals are not being sold.
CAWC also promotes animal welfare and
responsible pet ownership through public
education, advisories and counselling.
On average, some 100 talks are given
each year to schools and the public. The
Centre works closely with animal welfare
groups and participates in exhibitions and
roadshows to promote responsible pet
ownership.
Changi Animal & Plant Quarantine
Station
The Changi Animal & Plant Quarantine
Station, sited within the Changi Airfreight
Centre, conducts inspection of animals
and birds, veterinary biologics and meat
products, imported into Singapore by air.
All imported products are checked and
their health documentation verified to
ensure that they are fit and free of
contaminants.
Horticulture Services Centre
The Horticulture Services Centre plays a
key supporting role in the horticulture
industry. It provides services in the areas
of tissue culture, seed pod germination,
consultancy, field evaluation and training,
among others. The seed pod culture
service continues to be popular amongst
growers, hobbyists and schools as it
allows the breeding and selection of
unique hybrids. A total of 182 seed pods
were received, of which 6% were from
Paphiopedilum (slipper orchid) hybrids.
The laboratory protocol to successfully
culture Paphiopedilum hybrids has been
developed through an R&D project. In
2002, the Centre also cloned a total of
21,000 plantlets of orchids and other
exotic ornamental plants like pelargoniums,
pitcher plants and Venus fly traps.
Jurong Animal Quarantine Station
The Jurong Animal Quarantine Station
provides quarantine for imported animals
such as horses, cattle, sheep, goats, dogs
and cats. The station’s role is to ensure
that no exotic animal diseases of public
health or economic significance are
introduced into Singapore. In FY 02/03,
a total of 8,204 animals were quarantined
at the station.
Jurong and Senoko Fishing Ports
The Jurong Fishing Port (JFP) is a port
of call for foreign fishing vessels for the
landing, wholesale and distribution of
fresh fish. A total of 106 AVA-licensed fish
merchants currently operate in JFP. In FY
02/03, JFP handled 74,834 tonnes of fish.
Of these, 7,136 tonnes were tuna
transhipments. During the same period,
a total of 5,271 vessel calls were made at
JFP. The five main fish supplying countries
are Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, India
and People’s Republic of China.
Senoko Fishing Port (SFP) serves as a
home base for the local fishing fleet.
There are 25 AVA-licensed fish merchants
currently operating here. SFP handles
both local and imported fish. Local
production comprises fish landed by local
fishing trawlers, fish from kelongs and fish
farms. In FY 02/03, 15,104 tonnes of fish
were handled at SFP. A total of 465 vessel
calls were made by local fishing trawlers
at the port last year.
Marine Aquaculture Centre
The Marine Aquaculture Centre (MAC),
located on St John’s Island was built at
a cost of $33 million to undertake tropical
marine foodfish aquaculture technology
development. Its major programmes are
in large-scale hatchery and fish farming,
with state-of-the-art R&D facilities that are
the first of its kind in the region. Special
facilities include spawning tank systems,
live food micro-organism culture systems,
large-scale hatchery, and sea water re-use
systems. The facilities were tested and
commissioned over the year and most
were in operation by the end of 2002.
The Centre commenced hatchery
operations on a test scale concurrently
while the systems were being commissioned.
During this period, the Centre was
successful in laying down the protocol for
batch and mass production of live food
micro-organisms which are required in fish
larval rearing.
The Intellectual Property Rights
Identification and Protection Programme
on Marine Hatchery Technology at St
John’s Island, which began in 2001,
was completed in 2002. Areas of focus
included IPR audit investigation and report,
formulation of policies, and the drafting
of employment-related and commercial
agreements. Recommendations made in
the course of the programme have since
been adopted at MAC.
Marine Fisheries Research
Department/Southeast Asian Fisheries
Development Centre
As a member of the Southeast Asian
Fisheries Development Centre (SEAFDEC),
Singapore manages the Marine Fisheries
Research Department (MFRD) through
AVA.
In FY 02/03, MFRD continued to play
an active role in aiding the transfer of
technology to the fish processing industry
and government sector. Nine research
projects, a training course and one
workshop were conducted both locally
and regionally, training a total of 35 people
from across the region.
In July 2002, MFRD’s chemistry laboratory
received ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation
for five tests in the field of Chemical &
Biological Testing under the Singapore
Accreditation Council – Singapore
Laboratory Accreditation Scheme (SAC-
SINGLAS).
Plant Health Centre
The Plant Health Centre is a resource
centre providing analytical and diagnostic
services for the identification of insect
pests, diseases and nutrition problems
of plants in Singapore. Its services include
soil and growth media nutrient analysis,
providing advice, training and consultation
on the control of pests and disease
management. In FY02/03, the Centre
published a Pest Management Guide,
a quarterly Plant Bulletin and released
fortnightly pest alerts to farms, plant
nurseries and National Parks Board.
In addition to alerts on endemic or
new pests, the Centre also provides
information on diseases and disease
control measures to agri-businesses
and the public.
The Centre also conducts plant health
training courses on pest and disease
management for orchid and aquatic plant
cultivators, as well as students taking
the Diploma Horticulture & Landscape
Management Course at Ngee Ann
Polytechnic. In FY 02/03, the Plant Health
Laboratories performed 14,476 tests
to diagnose plant pests and disease
problems. It also hosted two plant
clinics at the Garden Tech 2002 and the
Singapore Flower Festival, providing plant
health advisory and information services to
some 50,000 visitors at the events.
Veterinary Public Health Laboratory
The Veterinary Public Health Laboratory
(VPHL), is the regulatory food analytical
laboratory of AVA. VPHL offers a
comprehensive range of analytical services
covering a wide spectrum of chemical and
microbiological hazards. Its capabilities
include tests for disease causing, food
poisoning and spoilage organisms,
harmful chemicals, toxins and economic
fraudulence. VPHL is also the national
reference laboratory for pesticide residues.
VPHL’s competent and professional
staff adopts internationally recognised
procedures and standards, as well as
state-of-the-art technology, to provide
a multi-disciplinary laboratory service to
the public and private sectors. It develops
test capabilities to keep pace with the
challenges of, and to maintain vigilance
against, newly emerging chemical and
microbiological hazards that may be
present in food.
In July 2002, construction work began to
relocate VPHL into an upgraded facility for
optimal laboratory and food inspections.
The $31.6 million project is anticipated to
be completed in June 2003.
Our service centres such as
the Marine Aquaculture Centre
are optimally equipped and
competently staffed to support
our functions.
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