Written Reply to Parliamentary Question on Average Licensing Cost Incurred by Non-hawker Food and Beverage Establishment by Ms Grace Fu, Minister for Sustainability and the Environment

Written Reply by Ms Grace Fu, Minister for Sustainability and the Environment, to Parliamentary Question on Average Licensing Cost Incurred by Non-hawker Food and Beverage Establishment and Plans to Waiver Costs for Licence Renewals for FY2022 Given Impact from COVID-19

Mr Melvin Yong Yik Chye: To ask the Minister for Sustainability and the Environment (a) what is the average licensing cost incurred by a non-hawker food and beverage establishment; and (b) whether the Ministry will consider waiving the costs for licence renewals (excluding liquor licences) for FY 2022 given the significant impact that COVID-19 has had on food and beverage outlets.

Answer:

1 The Singapore Food Agency (SFA) licenses Food and Beverage (F&B) establishments including restaurants, coffeeshops and food courts. Operators of F&B establishments are required to obtain a food shop licence from SFA, which costs $195 annually. Individual food stall operators obtain a food stall licence from SFA which costs $32 annually.

2 The cost of the licence is therefore insignificant. The Government is committed to supporting F&B establishments during this difficult period through significant support measures, such as the Jobs Support Scheme (JSS) and Foreign Worker Levy rebates, rental waivers and rental reliefs for qualifying owner-occupiers and tenants under the Rental Relief Scheme (RRS).