SINGAPORE - A Singaporean woman was fined $8,400 in court on Tuesday for illegally importing meat products from China.

In August, the Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) had received feedback about the online sale of products such as duck, beef and chicken.

AVA officers posed as buyers to buy meat products from the seller and went on to seize 52.8kg of assorted meat products from China from her house.

Further investigations showed that she had been illegally importing and selling meat products from China online since May.

AVA also worked with Singapore Customs to intercept and detain an incoming consignment imported by the woman, at one of the ports in August.

The detained consignment, which contained 85.68 kg of assorted meat products, will be destroyed.

AVA said in a statement on Wednesday: "Meat and meat products can only be imported from accredited establishments and farms in approved countries which comply with our bio-security requirements...China is not an approved source for the import of meat, meat products, poultry and poultry products."

Besides food safety, there is the potential risk of introducing bird flu into Singapore through illegal imports, added AVA.

It noted that there are also risks with consuming food items purchased online as it may not have undergone checks by AVA.