On 20 July 2022, the Health Sciences Authority announced that it had removed over 2,500 listings of illegal health products from local e-commerce and social media platforms between January to June 2022, with over 800 product listings removed during a week of intensified surveillance between 23 and 30 June.
Singapore state investor Temasek, through its Asia Sustainable Foods Platform (ASF), and Cremer, a German agri-food multinational company, have jointly invested SGD 6 million to produce plant-based alternative proteins in Tuas, Singapore.
ASF and Cremer have formed the joint venture, Cremer Sustainable Foods, which will carry out pilots and demo-scale facilities for the joint venture’s first Singapore production facility.
The Singapore Food Agency has announced that the Food Regulations 2022 will make changes to the existing Food Regulations, to allow the use of Pathogen Reduction Treatments on meat. The amendments will come into operation on 31 July 2022.
The Health Sciences Authority’s (HSA) Medical Devices Cluster (MDC) has released draft Regulatory Guidelines for Laboratory Developed Tests.
The HSA’s MDC has invited stakeholders to provide feedback on the draft document, with the consultation period being from 12 July 2022 to 12 August 2022.
In May 2022, the Singapore Personal Data Protection Commission published a guide to help organisations collect, use or disclose individuals’ biometric data in a responsible manner. With security applications like security cameras and Closed-Circuit Television Cameras becoming increasingly commonplace, there have been more cases of organisations mishandling individuals’ biometric data. The release of this guide serves as a timely reminder for organisations to review their existing measures or implement new measures to ensure that they are dealing with individuals’ biometric data in a responsible manner.
On 9 June 2022, the Health Sciences Authority issued an advisory against the purchase and use of a topical cream for diaper rash following reports of adverse effects in an infant. The product has since been found to contain a potent steroid and a synthetic medicinal ingredient.
Given the increasing popularity of direct-to-consumer genetic testing, the Ministry of Health has taken various initiatives to raise awareness of the risks arising from the use of such tests. In addition to various social media advertisements since December 2021 and issuing an advisory for consumers in August 2021, the MOH also issued a guidance document for providers of non-clinical genetic testing in May 2021.
On 27 April 2022, the Health Sciences Authority announced that it detected potent medical ingredients in two products that were marketed on local e-commerce and social media platforms. The HSA has since removed the affected listings and issued warnings to sellers of said products.
The Therapeutic Products Branch and the Health Products Regulation Group of the Health Sciences Authority recently revised its Guidance on Therapeutic Product Registration in Singapore, which took effect on 29 April 2022.
The Singapore Computer Emergency Response Team (SingCERT), set up by the Cyber Security Agency of Singapore to facilitate the detection, resolution and prevention of cybersecurity-related incidents on the internet, has issued a list of measures that organisations should adopt to ensure proper cyber hygiene controls are in place and operating correctly. SingCERT’s advisory is issued on the basis of warnings of increased cyber threats globally arising from the recent cyberattacks on Ukraine and the developments in the invasion of Ukraine by Russia.