Fish wholesaler and its director fined for running unlicensed fish processing facility in Aljunied
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Investigations revealed that the premises was not licensed to conduct food processing.
PHOTO: SINGAPORE FOOD AGENCY
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SINGAPORE - Fish Vision Agro-Tech, a fish wholesaler with a hatchery farm, was fined $4,000 on Wednesday for illegally operating an unlicensed fish processing facility in Aljunied.
The company’s director, Chew Kim Hwee, was also fined $4,000 for failing to prevent the offence from being committed, the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) said.
Chew also faced separate corruption charges for allegedly bribing a former employee at NTUC FairPrice Co-operative in 2020.
SFA said its officers found Fish Vision Agro-Tech’s unlicensed facility at a premises in Aljunied Avenue 4 on Oct 4, 2022.
They observed that descaling, degutting and the washing of raw whole fish were carried out at the facility.
Investigations revealed that the premises was not licensed to conduct food processing.
“Illegal processing of seafood at unlicensed facilities pose a food safety risk,” SFA said in a statement on Wednesday.
“In Singapore, all food processing for meat and seafood products must be licensed and are required to meet SFA’s requirements and food safety standards,” the agency added.
SFA also inspects such licensed premises routinely to ensure compliance.
Those who process meat and/or fish products illegally can be fined up to $10,000, jailed up to one year, or both.
In March, a Fish Vision Agro-Tech employee who worked for Chew, a director and majority shareholder, was sentenced to jail and fined.
The case against Chew is pending.
Fish processing tools, such as an automated de-scaler and a descaling brush, were found at the unlicensed fish processing establishment in Aljunied.
PHOTO: SINGAPORE FOOD AGENCY
