Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong is concerned about the recent trends in countries imposing food export bans, given the domino effect of feed shortages and rising prices on poultry and other products caused by the Ukrainian war. It’s not surprising, he said. ..
As a food importer, this is a problem for Singapore, but it’s a problem the Republic has expected since the pandemic began, Lee told reporters Saturday.
At that time, the government was concerned that the domestic supply of poultry, vegetables and carbohydrates would be disrupted.
“We had already begun to build up our stockpiles to a higher level and diversify our supplies from more places,” Lee told reporters in Singapore at the end of the Commonwealth Summit (Chogm). Stated. Kigali, the capital of Rwanda.
Singapore imports more than 90% of its food, and diversification is an important strategy for ensuring food security.
Lee said the decision to step up diversification of food sources is the reason why the Republic buys chickens from Brazil today and eggs from Ukraine and Poland.
In recent months, some countries have announced that they will ban food exports because of the turmoil caused by the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
For example, India this month announced plans to limit sugar exports to curb soaring domestic prices, following May’s decision to limit wheat exports.
Malaysia banned chicken exports on June 1 to stabilize production and prices. As a result, Singapore, which imports about one-third (34%) of chicken supply from Malaysia, saw a sharp drop in fresh chicken supply in the first two weeks of this month. After that, the ban was partially lifted.
“It doesn’t follow the rules of the World Trade Organization-you aren’t supposed to close your market when there is a shortage of supply,” Lee said. “But under pressure, this is what the government is doing.”
After finding additional sources of chicken and eggs, he added, Singapore is now looking for new sources of vegetables.
“These are what we have to do and what we’ve been doing for some time,” he said.
“That’s why we were able to deal with the loss of chicken supply from Malaysia a few weeks ago.
“But I think the problem will continue,” he said.
