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4 Companies That Import 30% of Eggs to S’pore Blocked from Import But There’s No Need to Hoard Eggs

2020-07-28 , 10:52 am

Last Updated on 2020-07-29 , 5:02 pm

(Editor’s note: A previous version of the article indicated that SFA has revealed the name of the four importers who missed their licensing requirements. That is incorrect and SFA has clarified that they did not reveal the names of the importers; it was TODAY who managed to discover the importers involved.)

When Malaysia first announced it’s borders closure, Singaporeans went wild. Literally.

But now we know better, don’t we? Which is why I’m pretty sure hoarding or panic-buying won’t happen after you hear about the latest eggdache-inducing news.

4 Companies That Import 30% of Eggs to S’pore Blocked from Import

On 28 Jul 2020, it was reported that the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) has blocked 4 egg wholesalers from importing eggs into Singapore from Malaysia.

In total, these 4 wholesalers account for 30% of the total egg supply in Singapore.

But before you start going to Fairprice and start grabbing trays and trays of eggs, SFA says there nothing to worry about.

There are 32 other egg importers, as well as Singapore’s own egg production capability (which accounted for 26% of Singapore’s eggs back in 2019), to pick up the slack.

So why did these 4 firms get blocked? Are they importing bad eggs? To understand, we have to go to the main reason first:

It’s About Strengthening Singapore’s Egg Supply

Back in 2019, the SFA put into place a new licensing regime which requires something more from egg importers: Business Continuity Plans (BCPs).

It sounds chim but basically, there are three things egg importers can do:

Establish retainer contracts with alternate sources
Keep a buffer stock
Import at least 15% of their goods from countries outside their dominant source

Looking at the three conditions listed above, you’ll probably come to the conclusion that the SFA wants importers to be able to continue supplying their goods even if a certain country (or countries) stops exporting to Singapore.

And you’re right.

P/S: You might want to watch this video to understand what diversification of food sources is all about:

Now, back to the four firms:

Firms Failed To Meet BCP Requirements

According to TODAY, Ming Kee Egg Supplies, Hup Seng Fresh Eggs Supplier, Premium Egg Products and Green-Tech Egg Industries failed to meet licensing requirements.

The four firms had made “limited effort and progress” in trying to meet their requirements, which is why SFA is taking away their ability to import from their dominant source.

In other words, they didn’t think the 4 firms tried hard enough. F for effort, as some would say.

Should they “redouble” their effort to comply with the BCPs, SFA says they’ll approve their permit to start importing from their dominant sources again.

This doesn’t mean that the 4 firms are left without revenue for the period, the authority pointed out, as they are still allowed to export from outside of their dominant source.

As of 9 Jul 2020, eggs from 121 farms around the world are approved for import into Singapore.

That’s SFA’s side of the story; let’s look at the importers’ side now:

Firms: Many Problems With Other Countries’ Eggs Leh

Hup Seng, which imports 5% of its eggs from other sources, says that they mainly import eggs to hawkers, and most of them don’t have the facilities to keep their eggs chilled.

Other than Malaysia, eggs from other farther countries require refrigeration.

This means the eggs, if kept at room temperature, will start to get mouldy after three to four days.

Ming Kee said that the cost required to invest in building or renting facilities to store refrigerated eggs can go up to hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Plus, the fluctuating demand due to Covid-19 makes it harder for them to predict the demand, and Malaysia is suitable for short-term orders.

Remember, Singapore had to throw eggs away before supply overshot the demand here:

For Ming Kee, lead time for other countries can go up to 35 days.

They are also having trouble with egg cancellations from farms in alternate locations where they’ve not had a long working relationship with.

Ming Kee had its order of 25 containers of eggs from Thailand cancelled, and it was claimed that if the orders were not cancelled, Ming Kee wouldn’t have “missed the BCP requirements”.

Premium Egg Products said it’s cheaper to import eggs from Malaysia.

Green-Tech simply said this is a “human-created crisis”, saying that the authorities don’t care about “your survival”.

As you probably read from the headline, their explanations didn’t work.

SFA’s Response: We Gave You Enough Time

Reportedly in response to the firms’ explanations, SFA only has this to say: We’ve given the egg importers in Singapore enough time of “more than a year” to adjust.

It also added that a majority of egg importers in Singapore managed to meet the requirements.

SFA also say they understand the “initial difficulties faced by egg importers” and has given chances where appropriate.

The government’s job is to “facilitate diversification process” (make diversification happen via rules, I guess) while the businesses’ jobs are to “diversify egg sources” and make their supply more resilient.

As long as the BCPs are “satisfactory”, SFA says, it’ll grant the licenses.

In other words: #SorryNotSorry, now try harder.