Want to bring back some Bak Kwa from Malaysia? Think again!

With Chinese New Year just around the corner, the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) and the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) issued a joint advisory on Tuesday (Jan 19) reminding travellers to check guidelines before bringing in items from other countries.

What you can’t bring

• Pork products (including bak kwa and canned luncheon meat) from Malaysia and other South-east Asian countries. Pork products can be imported only from approved regions including Australia, Japan, US and some European countries.
• Eggs from Malaysia or other countries except for Australia, New Zealand and Sweden. Each person limited to 30 eggs for allowed countries.
• Pork from Malaysia, and all other South-east Asian countries, is not allowed even for personal consumption.
• Another prohibited food is fresh chicken eggs from Malaysia. Eggs from a few countries, including New Zealand, are allowed but limited to 30 per person.
• Other goodies such as love letters and pineapple tarts are allowed, but limited to 5kg, or $100 per person, according to food import guidelines.

In general, travellers are allowed to bring in a maximum of 5kg or 5 litres of processed food products, and the total value of these products cannot exceed $100 per person.

According to the AVA, these restrictions are for health and safety reasons and should be taken seriously.

What you can bring

• Processed food products: Max 5kg or 5 litres; total value not exceeding $100 per person
• Fruits and vegetables: Small amount for personal consumption, from all countries except those in American Tropics e.g. Brazil, Mexico, Ecuador.
  A phytosanitary certificate to certify that the produce is pest-free is required for these countries.
• Beef: Max 5kg from Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden, Uruguay, US
• Pork: Max 5kg from Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UK, US
• Poultry: Max 5kg from Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Denmark, Hungary, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Switzerland, US
• Seafood products: Max 5kg, out of which only 2 kg of frozen cooked crabmeat and frozen cooked prawn meat is allowed
• Live or frozen oysters: Only from Australia, Canada, France, Ireland, New Zealand, the Netherlands, UK, US

News Source: The Straits Times, AVA