General information and classification

Essential information for importing, exporting, and transshipping animal products

Last updated 8 November 2025

Animal products are products that contain materials of animal origin.  

All animal products require compliance with Singapore’s import requirements before entry into Singapore. This includes obtaining the appropriate permits and documents, depending on the category of your product, and whether the animal species used in the product is listed by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

To find out which animal species are listed by CITES, please refer to the CITES Appendices. More information on CITES and endangered species is available here.

Animal Product Categories

Animal products are categorised as follows:

Animal product categories, descriptions, and examples

Category	Description	Examples
Finished animal products	Products that do not contain materials of animal origin in raw or unprocessed form. These products include hides, skins, bones, and hair that are finished, varnished, or treated.	Leather goods Tanned and finished skins or hides Taxidermized items or hunting trophies Instruments Carvings, paintings, and artwork
Unfinished, inedible animal products	Products that contain materials of animal origin in raw, unprocessed forms. These products are not meant for human consumption.	Ivory Skin Horn or bone Shell, scale, or teeth Gall bladder
Other animal products	Products of animal origin such as blood products*, organs, tissues and cells. These materials will be treated as biohazardous waste and must be disposed of appropriately.	Serums, plasma, or albumin Raw organs and tissues Other animal products for research purposes

*If you are bringing blood serum into Singapore for diagnostics purposes (i.e. tests conducted by us at our Animal and Plant Health Centre (APHC), please refer to the section on veterinary biologics instead.