Singapore Lifts Ban on Chewing Gum
2003-07-10

Category Public Health Nations Singapore

SINGAPORE - Good news for gum lovers. The government of this island nation announced Thursday it will allow chewing gum, long-banned here, to be sold - although only from pharmacies.

The decision stems from a recently signed free trade agreement between the United States and Singapore, and follows lobbying from the U.S. Congress and American gum makers.

Squeaky-clean Singapore outlawed the import, manufacture and sale of chewing gum in 1992, complaining that spent wads were fouling the city-state's famously tidy pavements, buildings, buses and subway trains.

Gum became a sticking point in recent trade talks with Washington.

Philip Crane, chairman of the House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee and a congressman from Illinois - where gum giant Wrigley Co. is headquartered - pressed for Singapore to loosen the ban.

Singapore initially agreed to allow gum to be sold only with a doctor's prescription, but that didn't satisfy U.S. negotiators.

Pharmacies may sell dentist-recommended gum that aids ``dental and oral hygiene'' once the trade pact takes effect, expected to be by the end of the year, a government spokeswoman said. AP