In today's retail industry, particularly in the cold chain management environment; there is a lack of cold chain management standards for perishable food products along the cold chain. In the absence of such a standard, there is always a potential danger of food contamination resulting from frequent breaches along the links of the cold chain.

Hence, proper management of every link of the cold chain constitutes an integral part in the production and delivery of wholesome perishable food products to the consumers. Any breaches along the links of the chain would be hazardous and pose a serious threat to the health of consumers.

In view of the importance of preserving the freshness and nutritional values of perishable food products at all times; ECR Singapore, has undertaken the role to drive the implementation project of cold chain management for milk and dairy products with support from SPRING Singapore and participation from the industry. The main objective is to create awareness on the importance of the implementation of cold chain management for milk and dairy products that leads to increased productivity ultimately. The Singapore Standard CP95 : 2002 Code of Practice for Cold Chain Management - Milk and Dairy Products was hence developed and all retailers and suppliers are implementing this standard.

With the successful implementation of cold chain management of milk and dairy products, the industry has approached SPRING Singapore to develop a Technical Reference on cold chain management for chilled pork particularly for chilled pork arriving by air from exporting countries to the de-boning centres in Singapore. Hence, a Working Group on cold chain management of chilled pork was formed under the umbrella of SPRING Singapore, in collaboration with ECR Singapore and the industry. As there were no international standards available on cold chain management for chilled pork, the Technical Reference for Cold Chain Management of Chilled Pork would be developed based on overseas standards incorporating some local requirements and regulations. The establishment of such a cold chain management standard for chilled pork is essential for upholding the safety of consumers and protecting public health. This has further led to the establishment of a Singapore Cold Chain Centre in collaboration with the Australian Cold Chain Centre.

The Singapore Cold Chain Centre is set up by the Singapore Manufacturers' Federation (SMa) and intended

1. to be a resource centre for Singapore and the Asian region with the mission to provide technical expertise in the cold chain management within the manufacturing process as well as in the cold chain management for logistics;
2. to perform research and standards development in collaboration with government agencies such as the Standards Department of SPRING Singapore, Economic Development Board (EDB), Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) and Agri-food & Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA);
3. to be a certification body to accredit trainers and certify courses, workshops and seminars on cold chain management in Singapore.
4. to conduct training courses on cold chain management in manufacturing process and cold chain management in logistics;
5. to collaborate with the South Australian Cold Chain Centre in such areas and
6. to collaborate with international bodies on cold chain management matters.

The Singapore Manufacturers' Federation, through its division, the GS1 Singapore which is the secretariat of ECR Singapore has been actively participating in the committee set up by SPRING Singapore to develop a Singapore standard for cold chain management of chilled and frozen products (the "Singapore Standard"). This Singapore Standard being developed shall make reference to the cold chain standard of Australia, the British standard and the CODEX standard incorporating local requirements.

The Cold Chain Centre to be located in SMa/GS1 Singapore will be the resource centre for standards and technology for cold chain management for manufacturing process and for logistics of a wide range of products including milk and dairy products, chilled pork products, frozen meat products, chilled fruits and vegetables. This Cold Chain Centre shall be built with technical assistance from the Department of Transport & Urban Planning of the Government of South Australia.

This Cold Chain Centre will also collaborate with the industry and Institute for Higher Learning in the areas of cold chain management.

The Singapore Cold Chain Centre will be housed in SMa premise. It will be administered by GS1 Singapore, the secretariat of ECR Singapore.

Co-chairs	: Mr Tng Ah Yiam
	Director of Integrated Purchasing
	NTUC Fairprice Co-operative Ltd
	: Mr Tan Jin Soon
	Executive Director
	GS1 Singapore Council
Members	: Representing Retailers
	NTUC Fairprice (Mr Lim Yew Hock), Cold Storage (Mr Lim Boon Cheong), Carrefour , Watsons (Ms Cathy Yeap)
	Representing Manufacturers
	Malaysia Dairy Industries (Mr Wong Siew Fai), Unilever (Ms Karen Poon, Yakult Singapore (Mr Roger Sim), Li Chuan Food Products Pte Ltd (Mr Tan Chun Ong)
	Representing Deboning Centres
	SFI (Mr Wee Liang Pin), J. Logistics (Mr Jack Koh)
	Representing Importers of chilled & frozen products
	Tiong Lian Food Supplier (Mr Benedictus Wu)
	Representing Manufacturers and Importers of Pharmaceutical Products
	Zuellig Pharma (Ms Chua Kim Suan)
	Representing Suppliers, Importers and Distributors of Fresh Fruits and Vegetables
	Representing Suppliers, Importers and Distributors of Food & Beverage Products
	Diethelm Singapore Pte Ltd, Auric Pacific Food Industries Pte Ltd
	Representing Logistic Suppliers
	SIA Cargo (Mr Joe Kwek), Changi International Airport Services (Mr Wu Chih Cheng), WLNA (Mr William Chew), Maersk Line (Mr Tan Eng Soon), Pacific International Lines (Mr Lim Jing Chee), PSA Corp (Mr Goh Hock Nguan)
	Representing Equipment Suppliers
	Far East Refrigeration
	Representing Associations
	SMa (Mr Lauw Kok Keen), Meat Traders Association (Mr Jack Koh), Consumers Association of Singapore (Mr Seah Seng Choon)
	Representing Government Agencies
	SPRING Singapore (Ms Susan Chong), IDA , AVA (Dr Paul Chiew), EDB (Mr Kelvin Wong), Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (Mr Foo Sek Min), National Environment Agency (Mr Wong Chong Leong), South Australian Government

For more information on the cold chain management projects, please refer to NEPC Online - Latest Technology Section