SINGAPORE - Travellers going between Singapore and the European Union (EU) will have an easier time proving their Covid-19 vaccination status from Thursday (Nov 25).
The European Commission announced on Wednesday that Covid-19 certificates issued by Singapore are now recognised as the equivalent of the EU's Digital Covid Certificate.
The decision enters into force on Thursday, when those with a Singapore Covid-19 certificate will be able to use it under the same conditions as those holding the EU's certificate.
The EU's digital certificate proves that a person has either been vaccinated against Covid-19, received a negative test result or recovered from the disease.
It is issued to EU citizens, their family members, and non-EU nationals who are staying in an EU member state and have the right to travel to other member states.
EU member states may choose, but are not obliged, to waive restrictions for travellers who have received a vaccine that is not authorised in the EU.
On its website, the commission advises those vaccinated with such vaccines to check which vaccines are acceptable by the EU state they are travelling to beforehand.
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On Wednesday, the commission also said that Singapore has agreed to accept the EU's certificate for travellers from that region.
Calling the announcement good news, the Embassy of Denmark in Singapore wrote in a Facebook post on Wednesday night: "If you are travelling to Denmark, that means that you can use your Singaporean certificate to prove your vaccination status and avoid quarantine. It also means that you can use your EU certificate to prove your vaccination status in Singapore."
The announcement means that two-way quarantine-free travel has been restored with Denmark, which had on Nov 11 reclassified Singapore as a country with a high risk of Covid-19 infections and imposed a 10-day isolation period on travellers from the Republic.
EU Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders noted that Singapore is the first Southeast Asian country to have its certificate recognised in this manner.
"To this date, we have 51 countries and territories in five continents that are now connected to the EU Digital Covid Certificate system... With the end of the year holidays approaching, I want to reaffirm to travellers the importance of this tool to underpin the confidence to travel inside and outside the EU," he said.
This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.
