Laws of the People's Republic of China

MINIMUM SANITARY REQUIREMENTS FOR FACTORIES AND
STOREHOUSES OF FOOD FOR EXPORT

(FOR TRIAL IMPLEMENTATION)

(Promulgated by the State Administration of Import
& Export Commodity Inspection on October 15, 1984)

 

 

SUBJECT: IMPORT & EXPORT LICENSING & ADMINISTRATION; HEALTH & QUARANTINE

ISSUING-DEPT: STATE ADMINISTRATION FOR THE INSPECTION OF IMPORT & EXPORT COMMODITY

ISSUE-DATE: 10/15/1984

IMPLEMENT-DATE: 10/15/1984

LENGTH: 2075 words

TEXT:

The minimum sanitary requirements for factories and storehouses of food for export (hereinafter referred to as the Minimum Sanitary Requirements) are formulated in accordance with article 4 of the second chapter of the "PROVISIONS OF THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA ON SANITATION OF FOOD FOR EXPORT (FOR TRIAL IMPLEMENTATION)."

[Article 1] Sanitary Requirements on the Environments of Factories and Store houses:

(1) There must not be unsanitary environment around the factories and storehouses that may cause contamination to food, and it is not allowed to produce and handle other products that affect food sanitation within the same factory or storehouse.

(2) The production area should be separated from the living area and the buildings in the production area should be rationally distributed.

(3) The factories and storehouses should be made green by planting trees, flowers and lawns; the road surface should be smooth and free from accumulation of water; and the main pathway should be paved with cement, asphalt or stones to prevent dust.

(4) The sewage discharged by the factories should meet the state requirements for environmental protection.

(5) Lavatories in the factory area must have flush and hand washing facilities and measures must be taken to prevent the entry of flies and insects.  Dadoes should be lined with white ceramic tiles and floors should be easily cleansed, disinfected and kept clean.

(6) Garbage and waste materials should be collectively piled in places far away from food-processing rooms and be cleaned out of the factory within the same day.

[Article 2] Sanitary Requirements on Factory and Storehouse Facilities:

(1) Rooms specialized in food processing must meet the following requirements:

a.  The room area must be sufficient for the productive capacity so that processing and production can be carried out smoothly.

b.  The ceilings, walls, doors and windows within the work rooms should be coated with nonpoisonous, light-colored paints and should be easy to cleanse and disinfect and uneasy to peel off.

c.  Adequate lighting and ventilation should be provided throughout work rooms, Floors should be smooth and clean, and hand washing and disinfection facilities and installation for preventing the entry of flies, insects and mice should be installed.

d.  There must be adequate operating platforms, tools and instruments and trolleys for the productive capacity, which are easy to cleanse and disinfect, and resistant to corrosion.

Bamboo and wooden tools are prohibited.

e.  There should be sufficient changing-rooms with one cabinet for each person, lavatories and work-break lounges connected with work rooms for all personnel engaged in production.  At the entrance of work rooms, there should be automatic-hand-washing facilities and disinfecting means.

f.  Sundry goods having nothing to do with food processing should not be placed in the work room.

g.  There must be sufficient auxiliary processing work rooms, cold store rooms and warehouses for the productive capacity.

(2) Work rooms processing meat, canned food, aquatic products, egg products, dairy products, quick-frozen vegetables and minor food items must also meet the following requirements.

a.  The dadoes should be lined with white ceramic tiles up to the height of not less than 2 metres (3 metres for slaughtering rooms) from the floor, angles between ceilings and walls, walls and walls, walls and floors should be all rounded and the windowsills should be sloping.

b.  Floors in work rooms should be slightly sloping, free from accumulation of water, easy to clean and disinfect, and drains should be maintained in proper working order.

c.  There should be shower rooms connected with the work rooms, and pools for disinfecting boots and shoes at the entrances of work rooms.

(3) Factories engaged in meat processing should also have the following facilities:

a.  The factory area must have two to three gates for people to come in and out, for livestock and poultry to enter, for finished products to leave and for waste to go out of the factory respectively.

At the entrance for livestock and poultry, there should be a pool which is as wide as the gate, 3 metres long and 10-15 centimetres deep for wheel disinfection.

There should be places and facilities for cleansing and disinfection of vehicles used to transport livestock and poultry.

b.  There must be pens with adequate cement floors for holding livestock and poultry awaiting slaughter, which should be equipped with waterdrinking facilities and drainage system.

c.  There must be rooms for isolating unfit livestock and poultry, rooms for emergency slaughtering and rooms for hygienic disposal of unfit animals and offal, which can be easily cleansed and disinfected.

d.  There must be sufficient work rooms for slaughtering, processing, cutting and packaging for the productive capacity.

e.  There must be special rooms for by-products processing.

f.  There must be special places for the collection and timely treatment of stomach and intestinal contents, excrement and urine and inedible matters.

[Article 3] Sanitary Requirements on Raw Materials and Subsidiary Materials:

(1) There must be an ample supply of potable water (ice) for processing and production which meet the sanitary standards set by the Ministry of Public Health for drinking water and the particular requirements set by the factory on food.

(2) The raw materials and subsidiary materials for food processing must be inspected and proved up to the standard before being put into production.

(3) There must be certificates certifying that the livestock and poultry are derived from non-epidemic areas and local quarantine certificates for livestock and poultry to enter the factory, and they must be subjected to ante-morten and post-morten inspections by veterinarians in accordance with the "Tenative Prosivions for Sanitary Inspection of Food Animals" and other relevant regulations.

[Article 4] Personnel Health Requirements:

(1) The personnel engaged in food processing must have a medical examination at least once a year and go through such examinations whenever necessary.  New employees must have medical examinations and get health certificates prior to their employment.

(2) Those who are suffering from one of the following diseases should not engage in production:

(a) active pulmonary tuberculosis;

(b) infectious hepatitis;

(c) infectious intestinal diseases or the disease carrier;

(d) purulent or exudative skin diseases and scabies;

(e) wounds on hands;

(f) other diseases that may contaminate the food sanitation.

(3) Persons who engaged in food processing should pay attention to personal hygiene and should wear white work clothes with unexposed buttons, working caps and shoes or boots, their hair should not be exposed and their hands should be washed and disinfected.  Personal articles having nothing to do with production such as watches and ornaments (necklaces, ear rings, finger rings, etc.) should not be brought into work rooms.

Before entering work rooms for the processing of meat, canned food, aquatic products, egg products, dairy products, quick-frozen vegetables and minor food items, one must have his boots, shoes disinfected in the disinfection pool, vehicle wheels should also be disinfected.  Smoking, eating and drinking are strictly prohibited in work rooms.

(4) Working clothese and caps must be kept clean and must not wear into lavatories nurseries, nursing rooms, dining rooms and other public places.

[Article 5] Sanitary Requirements on Processing:

(1) Workpost resposibility system should be established and perfected, and processing should be carried out strictly in accordance with the requirements for processing technology, food safety and sanitation.

(2) One work room is not allowed to process two different kinds of food at the same time.

(3) The operating platforms and production and transportation facilities must be kept clean, and must be cleansed and disinfected before and after the work.  If they are found to be contaminated while in use, they must be recleansed and disinfected.

(4) The waste must be put into special containers and disposed of timely.

The containers must be often cleansed and disinfected.

(5) Food found to be contaminated by infectious diseases, parasites and hazardous and poisonous matters must be marked out, kept separately, and disposed of timely under the supervision of veterinarians and food sanitation inspectors and records must be made.

(6) Containers used for the processing of meat, canned food, aquatic products, dairy products, egg products, quick-frozon vegetables and minor food items must not come into direct contact with the floor.  Raw materials, semi-finished products and finished products should be separated in the course of processing to prevent cross-contamination.

(7) Factories producing frozen food should also meet the following requirements:

a.  The meat-cutting room should have temperature control equipment and the temperature should not exceed 20 degrees centigrade.

b.  There should be suitable rooms respectively for chilling. quickfreezing and cold storage that are connected with the work rooms.

The temperature in the rooms for chilling should be kept between zero and 4 degrees centigrade.

The temperature of the room for quick-freezing should be maintained at -25 degrees centigrade or below.  The frozen products cannot leave the room before their central temperature have dropped to -15 degrees centigrade or below (within 48 hours for meat products, 24 hours for poultry meat, and 14 hours for aquatic products).

The temperature of the cold store room should be maintained steadily at -18 degrees centigrade or below and the central temperature of the frozen products should be maintained at -15 degrees centigrade or below.

The cold store room should have automatic temperature recording device and mercury thermometer.

(8) Canned food processing should also meet the following requirements:

a.  Pre-treatment of the raw materials should be separated from processes, and cross-contamination must be avoided.

b.  Before canning, the empty cans must be cleansed and disinfected with steam or hot water not less than 82 degrees centigrade.

c.  Sealing must meet the requirements of the relevant regulations.

d.  Sterilization must meet the technological requirements and the retorts must be evenly heated and equipped with automatic temperature and time recording devices.

e.  The cooling water must be treated with chlorine so that the free chlorine content of the cooling discharged will not be lower than 0.5 PPM.

f.  Incubation treatment must be conducted strictly in accordance with the relevant regulations and the temperature in the store rooms should be even.

The room for incubation should be equipped with automatic temperature recording device.

[Article 6] Sanitary Requirements on Packaging, Storage and Transportation:

(1) All Packaging materials must be clean and free from objectional odor.

Packaging and label in direct contact with the food must not contain hazardous and poisonous matters.

(2) There must be special containers and transport facilities.

Frozen food must be transported by refrigerator vans (or vessels) that are clean and free from objectional odor.

(3) The cold store rooms and storehouses should be kept clean, disinfected periodically and free from mice, mildew and insects.

Different type of foods should not be put in the same storehouse, if the odors may be absorbed each other.

[Article 7] Sanitation Inspection Control:

(1) Inspection agency compatible with the productive capacity should be set up under the leadership of the factory director and staffed with fulltime veterinarians and food sanitation inspectors who have at least received middle technical school education or have gone through examinations given by the competent department together with commodity inspection authorities and have obtained the licences.

(2) The inspection agency should have inspection rooms and instruments necessary for inspection and a perfect system for inspection and administration.

(3) All first-hand records should be kept at least for three years and provided to commodity inspection authorities for check at any time.