Study on Possibility of Introducing Mandatory Labelling Scheme for Shark Products

Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang asked the Minister for National Development (a) whether the Ministry has conducted its study on the possibility of introducing a mandatory labelling scheme for all shark products specifying the species of the shark; (b) if so, what are the results of this study; and (c) if the study has not been conducted, what is the Ministry's timeline for conducting the study.

International trade in wildlife species threatened with extinction, including shark species, is regulated under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Under the Endangered Species (Import and Export) Act, scheduled species brought into Singapore are to be accompanied by CITES permits issued by exporting countries in accordance with CITES rules and regulations.

This helps us to regulate the import of shark products upstream and provides assurance that the import of scheduled shark species into Singapore is legal, sustainable and traceable. NParks also has a robust risk management framework to target the illicit trade in scheduled shark species. Hence, our approach is to regulate upstream at the point of import, while targeting illicit trade, rather than imposing labelling requirements at the consumer-level. This approach is also in line with that adopted by most of the Parties to CITES.