SINGAPORE, Jan 20 — Planning to shop for Chinese New Year goodies in Malaysia in the coming weeks? Keep an eye on the amount of bak kwa, pineapple tarts and egg rolls you are bringing in from overseas, if you want to avoid hold ups at the immigration checkpoints.

In a joint statement, the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) and the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) reminded travellers that they were only allowed to bring in a maximum of 5kg or 5 litres of processed food products, with the total value of these products not exceeding S$100 (RM304) per person.

Malaysia is not one of the approved regions for meat import, so bringing in bak kwa is not allowed. Pork can be imported directly only from Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the United States, Chile and some European countries such as Switzerland and Belgium. Beef products can be imported only from Argentina, Australia, New Zealand and Uruguay.

One can also bring in up to 30 hen eggs from Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Sweden and the US; up to 5kg of live or frozen oysters from Australia, Canada, France, Ireland, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the US.

Travellers may find out more on what they can or cannot bring into Singapore by visiting the AVA website at www.ava.gov.sg or downloading the mobile app — Sg Travelkaki. Travellers can also visit the ICA website at www.ica.gov.sg to check on the list of prohibited, controlled or dutiable items.

Travellers are required to make an accurate and complete declaration of any controlled or dutiable items in their possession to officers at the Red Channels or the forward checks areas (car zones) at the land checkpoints. Those who fail to make an accurate and complete declaration will be referred for further checks. — TODAY