Restaurants can serve patrons with pets al fresco without SFA approval from 2025
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The move is part of the agency’s regular review of food safety laws and is expected to benefit some 40 businesses every year, said SFA.
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SINGAPORE – Eateries will be able to seat patrons and their pets outdoors without a pet cafe licence from Jan 1, 2025 – if they do not serve pet food.
There are about 120 such eateries as at end-2024 that hold pet cafe licences solely to let customers dine al fresco with their pets, said the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) on Dec 2.
The move, it added, is part of its regular review of food safety laws and is expected to benefit some 40 businesses every year.
It said prevailing food safety requirements are enough to mitigate the already low risk of zoonotic transmission of diseases with animals present in outdoor dining areas. These outdoor refreshment areas are spaces outside a building or restaurant that are not enclosed, even if sheltered.
Pets are still prohibited at all hawker centres and their outdoor dining areas as these are communal spaces, unlike the outdoor seating spaces of private food businesses, said SFA.
In an update on Dec 3, it said pet dogs will continue to be banned from halal-certified premises, including those that have outdoor refreshment areas.
Current regulations do not discriminate between restaurants that serve pet food and those that do not serve pet food but let patrons dine al fresco with their pets.
Both need a pet cafe licence: In places that serve pet food, animals can be let indoors, while in those that do not, animals must stay outdoors.
Under the new rules, businesses that intend to serve pet food must apply to SFA for a pet cafe licence.
This is because the simultaneous handling of human and pet food might create an additional channel for cross-contamination of food, said SFA, adding that this will require additional food safety requirements to be put in place.
These include the segregation of food preparation and storage areas for human and pet food, as well as the provision of separate food containers for humans and pets, it added.
Restaurant owners are still forbidden from keeping their pets within their premises without approval from the National Parks Board.
