SINGAPORE - From the first quarter of next year, Pasir Panjang Wholesale Centre will be managed by the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA).

The Housing Board, which has been managing the centre since 1983, announced the transfer of management on Thursday (July 27), in a joint statement with the Ministry of National Development and AVA.

Located just off the West Coast Highway viaduct, Pasir Panjang Wholesale Centre is Singapore's main wholesale market and distribution point for imported fruits and vegetables.

About 40 per cent of all fruit and vegetable imports in the country pass through the centre.

The remaining 60 per cent is handled by independent retailers and other importers, some of whom have their own facilities.

Pasir Panjang Wholesale Centre - located close to Haw Par Villa MRT station on the Circle Line - houses about 600 shops and more than 1,200 tenants and licensees.

AVA and HDB, in the statement, said they expect the transfer to have "minimal impact because all key terms and conditions of the tenancy or licence agreements, prevailing as at the transfer date, will remain unchanged".

AVA, which is responsible for ensuring Singapore's food supply resilience, is taking over the operations in "an alignment of the agencies' functions", it said in an e-mail reply.

Pasir Panjang Wholesale Centre will be the only fruit and vegetable distribution centre AVA will manage.

AVA currently manages the seafood wholesale facilities at fishery ports that distribute seafood in Singapore.

Pasir Panjang Wholesale Centre was set up to provide alternative premises to importers and wholesalers of fruit, vegetables and dried food when Beach Road Market, among others, closed down.