Singapore waives permit for restaurants to allow pets in outdoor dining areas

About 40 restaurants are expected to benefit from this move.

The Singapore Food Agency has waived the permit for retail food businesses to allow pets in outdoor dining areas if they are not serving pet food starting 1 January 2025.

Currently, all retail food businesses must convert their licence to a pet café licence to allow their patrons to bring pets along for dine-in. This applies to food businesses that: (i) intend to serve pet food; and/or (ii) do not serve any pet food and would like to allow patrons to bring their pets along when dining at the ORAs.

The SFA said it has assessed that the risk of food safety and zoonotic transmission with the presence of pets at ORAs is low and that the prevailing food safety requirements that apply to retail food businesses are sufficient to mitigate the risk.

“Nonetheless, retail food businesses should adopt good food safety practices to ensure food safety and a conducive environment for all patrons,” SFA said.

The move is part of SFA’s regular review of our food safety regulatory framework to ensure that it remains relevant in addressing food safety risks, whilst enabling a pro-enterprise regulatory environment.

There are about 120 such food businesses as of end-2024, and about 40 food businesses are expected to benefit from this move every year.

Meanwhile, retail food businesses that intend to serve pet food in addition to serving food for human consumption will continue to require a pet café licence from SFA.