#One_AVA 977.200001111222 Future Ready ANNUAL REPORT 2017/18 2 Annual Report 2017/18 Contents 4 Vision Chairman’s Statement Safe food, healthy animals and plants for Singapore; trusted and 10 respected globally. Board of Directors / Leadership Team Mission 16 Ensure a resilient supply of safe food; Organisational Chart • Ensure the health & safeguard the welfare of animals; • Safeguard the health of plants; 18 • Facilitate agri-trade; and Corporate Governance • Nurture and inspire staff to be the best we can be! 20 Food Supply Resilience Values (ExCITe) 40 Excellence: • We strive to be the best in all that Food Safety we do. • We seek lifelong learning and 56 continuous innovation. Animal Health, Welfare & Care: Management • We value and nurture our staff. • We care for the community and 72 the environment. Plant Health Integrity: • We serve with professionalism. 80 • We treat our customers fairly and International Relations honestly. Teamwork: 86 • We trust and respect each other. Organisational Excellence • We work as a team and partner our stakeholders to achieve our goals. 96 Performance Indicators #One_AVA 3 Awards & Accolades Singapore Quality Class (STAR) Certificate of Commendation re-certified in December 2016 for Outstanding Work Done in Singapore to Combat Illegal People Developer Wildlife Trade re-certified in December 2016 received from Convention on International Trade in Endangered Innovation Class Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) re-certified in December 2016 Secretary-General ISO/IEC 17025 SAC-SINGLAS NS Mark Accreditation Accreditation received from Ministry of Defence received by: Leading HR Practice in Employee • Veterinary Public Health Laboratory Relations & Workplace Harmony since 2000, with 18 new tests Award accredited in FY 2017 • Animal Health Laboratory since Leading HR Practice (Special Mention) January 2005, with 2 new tests in Quality Work-Life Integration accredited in FY 2017 Leading HR Practice (Special Mention) • Plant Health Laboratory since June in Learning & Development 2005 Leading HR Practice (Special Mention) in Employee Engagement & World Organisation for Animal Alignment Health (OIE) Collaborating Centre received from Singapore Human for Food Safety Resource Institute designation received by Veterinary Public Health Centre since May 2014 Excellence in Workplace Wellbeing Silver Award ASEAN Reference Laboratory for Pesticide Residues Excellence in Employee Engagement designation received by Veterinary Bronze Award Public Health Laboratory since 2004 received from Human Resource Excellence Awards ASEAN Reference Laboratory for Environmental Contaminants Singapore Health Awards Corporate designation received by Veterinary Merit Award Public Health Laboratory since 2014 received from Health Promotion Board Best Suggestion (Supporting Ong Teng Cheong Labour Leadership Agency) Award Institute Workplace Partnership received from Pro-Enterprise Panel- Award (Gold) Singapore Business Federation received jointly with AUSBE-AVA since 2015 Municipal Services Award (Community Category) for The “Management Of Stray Dog Issue through Public Education Efforts” received from Municipal Services Office 4 Annual Report 2017/18 Chairman’s Statement FY 2017 was an eventful year for AVA. We continued our effort to build a resilient and future-ready AVA that is well placed to meet an increasingly challenging and complex operating environment. Our focus is to nurture and build a vibrant and competitive agrifood sector that will provide safe, sustainable and healthy food for Singapore. At the same time, AVA adopted various measures that promote responsible pet ownership and peaceful co-existence between humans and animals. We made good progress in delivering our missions of ensuring food security and safety, animal and plant health, and animal management and welfare. In FY 2017, we made good progress in delivering our missions of ensuring food security and safety, animal and plant health, and animal management and welfare. Let me share some of our key achievements in the past year. #One_AVA 5 Food security innovate and adopt modern farming At AVA, we are deeply concerned about practices and technology. AVA has led the the increasing stress on the world’s way with technology sourcing trips, which food supply. The world’s population is were joined by our farmers. In April 2017, expected to reach nearly 10 billion by then Senior Minister of State for National 2050, from 7 billion now. Agricultural land Development Dr Koh Poh Koon visited and resources, on the other hand, are several high-tech vegetable farms in China decreasing, not increasing. Climate change with AVA to learn more about land-based will compound the difficulties. On the farming and some of the technologies that other hand, rapid pace in urbanisation and could be adopted in Singapore. In August increasing consumer demands complicate 2017, Dr Koh also led a visit to Norway the situation and necessitate the need for with AVA and our farmers to Aqua Nor – innovation and finding new approaches to the world’s largest aquaculture technology solutions. Not all is lost, as entrepreneurs, exhibition – to learn about various scientists and proactive governments and aquaculture technologies and methods organisations have been actively seeking such as deep sea farming. Our farmers new solutions to these challenges and were exposed to the latest technologies there is light at the end of the tunnel. and automation that could be adopted for sustainable farming to boost productivity In turn, at AVA, we know we have to be and increase capability. prepared to respond to these challenging macro situations as they will affect us one To help our farmers undertake investments way or another. We know we have to be in productive technologies, AVA further prepared for various food contingencies enhanced the Agriculture Productivity Fund and to secure our future demand for food. (APF) to increase the co-funding cap from At the same time, we recognise that there $700,000 to $2 million for strategic food are also economic opportunities in our farms, and to support piloting and test- agrifood sector that could strengthen our bedding of new systems and solutions. food security while providing quality jobs for Singaporeans. Since late 2016, AVA has worked with the Ministry of Manpower, institutes of higher To this end, we have started laying the learning (IHLs), Workforce Singapore foundation to significantly increase our (WSG) and SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG) local food production. In August 2017, to develop a Singapore workforce for the AVA launched its first ever agriculture agrifood industry. One of the initiatives is land tender via concept and price tender the development of the Earn and Learn method to allow farmers to compete Programme (ELP) to attract and emplace based on best concepts, with a focus on Institute of Technical Education (ITE) productivity gains rather than on land price graduates into the aquaculture sector. alone. AVA awarded the tender for the first The ELP is a work-study programme tranche of vegetable plots on 9 February that gives ITE graduates a head-start 2018, with winning proposals featuring in careers related to their discipline of productive and innovative farming systems study. Under this programme, for each such as greenhouses with automation and ITE graduate employed, companies would smart controls, and multi-tier hydroponic enjoy government funding support of up systems using LED lights and data to S$15,000 for the costs they incur for analytics to optimise growing conditions. sending their employees to IHLs for work- AVA has also awarded the tender for the related studies. The ELP will build up a local second tranche of food-fish farming plots talent pool of workforce with the relevant on 18 April 2018 to companies that would knowledge and skills. have multi-storey facilities with automated fish pumps and advanced water treatment It is important for our industry partners processes. such as farmers to play a proactive role in the transformation of our farming sector. To overcome land and manpower AVA is working with Singapore Agro- constraints, our agriculture sector must Food Enterprises Federation (SAFEF) – an 6 Annual Report 2017/18 key strategy to enhance our food supply resilience. In FY 2017, we opened up new egg sources in Thailand, where the first shipment of Thailand eggs arrived in April 2017. Singapore also started regular import of eggs from Australia in June 2017. Adding on to our supply sources of live pigs, AVA facilitated the export of live pigs from Sarawak to Singapore. The first import of live pigs from Sarawak came in November 2017. Food safety Then Senior Minister of State for National Our food security strategies are Development & Trade and Industry Dr Koh Poh Koon came to show his support for local farmers underpinned by a robust food safety at SG Farmers’ Market event. programme. We constantly review our food safety legislation to uphold our high industry-led, non-profit federation set up food safety standards. The Sale of Food in October 2017 — to identify business Act was amended in November 2017 to opportunities, internationalise and empower AVA to recall food products promote local produce. In collaboration when contamination is suspected, and with SAFEF, AVA organised the second SG license non-retail food businesses such as Farmers Market event at Singapore Turf warehouses, wholesalers or distributors Club in February 2018. The event gave to protect public health. To promote public our farmers the opportunity to share more health, AVA has also set out stricter rules about the various types of locally grown on the labelling and advertising of food, produce with visitors. AVA also worked including formula milk for babies. with SAFEF to exhibit Singapore’s fresh produce at the Food and Hotel Asia 2018 in April this year. To align with AVA’s function to ensure food supply resilience, AVA took over Pasir Panjang Wholesale Centre (PPWC) from HDB on 1 January 2018. About 40% of all fruit and vegetable imports pass through PPWC. AVA worked closely with PPWC Association to ensure a smooth transition in the handing over process.