On July 11, 2023, China’s State Administration for Market Regulation issued Detailed Rules for the Review of Meat Production Licenses (“Rules”). The Rules overhaul the review rules last published in 2006 by strengthening equipment and facility requirements, introducing requirements on personnel management, and expanding requirements relating to quality management systems. In China, each domestic food manufacturing facility must have a manufacturing license in a category that is appropriate for the products produced there. The Rules are applicable to the examination of food manufacturing licenses for the category of meat products that use livestock and poultry as primary raw materials, and do not apply to production licenses for plant-based meat.
The Rules set forth requirements for various categories of review for licensure, including:
- The production site, which addresses requirements for space, height, lighting, ventilation, sanitation, etc.;
- Equipment and facilities, which addresses requirements for sterilization equipment, storage equipment, drainage facilities, mechanical exhaust facilities, testing equipment, etc.;
- Equipment layout and process flow, which addresses specific requirements to avoid contamination of frozen meat, packaging, pickled and fermented meat products, products using thermal processing technology, etc.;
- Personnel management, which addresses requirements for food safety management, personnel responsible for cleaning and disinfection, food processing personnel, training plans, health checks, etc.;
- Quality management systems, which addresses processes for procurement management, production process control system, sanitation management, inspection management, etc.
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Contributors for the China & APAC Food, Drug, Device, and Cosmetics blog:
John Balzano, Julia Post, Muyun Hu, Kaixin Fan, and Kexin Yang.