MILK and milk products from China will be allowed back onto shop shelves, the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) has announced.

Having inspected dairy farms, milk collection centres and food processing set-ups in China, the AVA is satisfied with the control measures put in place to ensure that Chinese milk and milk products made or processed with effect from yesterday are no longer contaminated with melamine.

The lifting of the freeze means that importers and retailers can, once again, bring in fresh stocks of these products.

To assure further safety, the authority will continue to monitor the products imported into Singapore to ensure that they are safe for consumption.

The announcement comes three months after a blanket ban on the sale of Chinese dairy products was imposed in Singapore after melamine was found in them.

Melamine, a chemical more commonly found in plastic, has been at the centre of a worldwide food scandal which originated in China.

It was added to milk to artificially boost its protein content, and has since caused six infant deaths in China.

Thousands of others also fell ill with kidney- related illnesses.

Territories around the world, including Hong Kong, Canada, France and India, pulled Chinese dairy products from their shop shelves as a result.

In October, Chinese-made raising agents in 17 Malaysian-made food products were also found to be tainted with melamine. Raising agents are used for leavening baked goods.

The discovery resulted in several brands of biscuits also being removed from Singapore's shops.

Since the end of last month, the bulk of food products taken off shelves during the melamine scare have been given the all-clear to be sold again.

Chinese-made biscuits, crackers, liquid milk, ice cream, and milk and whey proteins have been cleared for sale.

The AVA has been slowly lifting the sale ban with 327 made-in-China items containing dairy products, and thus banned from sale as a precautionary measure, being put back on the shelves.

To ensure that milk and milk products coming from China are melamine-free, they must be from establishments approved by the Chinese authorities and there must be health certificates accompanying consignments exported to Singapore, said the AVA.

Several shops that The Straits Times spoke to said they are not stocking up on milk products from China 'just yet' and would rather take a wait-and-see approach.

Mr Ong Liang Eng, 54, who runs a provision shop in Toa Payoh, said customer confidence in the products is still absent.

'If they are not buying, then I would be wasting shelf space and money invested,' he said.

'Take the biscuits for instance. As soon as the announcement came that they are safe, I put them back on the shelves and they are still sitting there.'

juditht@sph.com.sg