Circular No. 53/2014/TT-BCT dated December 18, 2014 of the Ministry of Industry and Trade prescribing the conditions for food safety assurance for beer production and trading establishments

THE MINISTRY OF INDUSTRY AND TRADE

Circular No. 53/2014/TT-BCT datedDecember 18, 2014 of the Ministry of Industry and Trade prescribing the conditions for food safetyassurance for beer production and trading establishments

Pursuant to June 17, 2010 Law No. 55/2010/QH12 on Food Safety;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 38/2012/ND-CP of April 25, 2012, detailing a number of articles of the Law on Food Safety;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 95/2012/ND-CP of November 12, 2012, defining the functions, tasks, powers and organizational structure of the Ministry of Industry and Trade;

At the proposal of the Director of the Department of Science and Technology;

The Minister of Industry and Trade promulgates the Circular providing food safety assurance conditions for beer production and trading establishments.

Chapter I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1.Scope of regulation

This Circular prescribes food safety assurance conditions for beer production and trading establishments (below referred to as establishments) managed by the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

Article 2.Subjects of application

1. This Circular applies to:

a/ Beer production and trading establishments;

b/ Competent state management agencies and organizations and individuals related to beer production and trading.

2. This Circular does not apply to:

a/ Small-scale beer production and trading establishments;

b/ Street catering service providers and street food vendors governed by the Ministry of Health’s Circular No. 30/2012/TT-BYT of December 5, 2012, providing food safety conditions for street catering service providers and street food vendors.

Article 3.Interpretation of terms

In this Circular, the terms below are construed as follows:

1. Beer production establishment covers all physical foundations, workshops, machinery, equipment and environmental conditions for beer production.

2. Beer trading establishment means an establishment that introduces, preserves, transports, purchases and sells beer.

3. Small-scale beer production or trading establishment means an establishment which is registered as a business household by an individual, a group of individuals or a household and not granted a business registration certificate, enterprise registration certificate or investment certificate as prescribed by law.

4. Beer production supporting facilities and systems include refrigeration system, steam supply system, compressed air supply system, wastewater treatment facility; warehousing system; toilets; and water treatment system.

Article 4.General provisions applicable to beer production or trading establishments

Beer production or trading establishments shall comply with the Ministry of Health’s Circular No. 15/2012/TT-BYT of September 12, 2012, providing general conditions for food safety assurance for food producers and traders, and the provisions of this Circular.

Chapter II

CONDITIONS FOR FOOD SAFETY ASSURANCE FOR BEER PRODUCTION ESTABLISHMENTS

Article 5.Beer production establishments

1. Production site

a/ To be built under the current master plan approved by a competent state agency;

b/ To be situated far from sources of pollution or hazards and other pollutants in the surrounding environment, which may adversely affect the quality and safety of beer products;

c/ To have sufficient space for arranging production lines suitable to the establishment’s design capacity, ensuring that technology requirements are satisfied and industrial sanitation measures are applied at all production stages.

2. Workshop layout and design

a/ The arrangement of production lines shall take into account wind directions so as to avoid adverse effects of sources of pollution such as steam boilers, wastewater treatment facilities, solid waste collection sites and toilets;

b/ Warehouses (raw material, auxiliary material, processing aid and product warehouses); production areas (areas for material preliminary processing, cleaning and processing; areas where malting equipment, yeast propagation equipment, fermentation tanks, whirlpools, filtration tanks and filling and product finishing lines are located); clean-in-place (CIP) systems; mechanical and power systems; solid waste collection sites and wastewater collection and treatment systems; and other auxiliary works shall be separated from one another to avoid cross-contamination;

d/ Internal roads shall be designed and built in a way that ensures solidity, durability and suppression of dust; overhead walkways shall be installed with handrails or partitions which facilitate observation and ensure occupational safety;

dd/ Water drainage systems (for wastewater generated from daily-life and production activities and rainwater) shall be designed and built separately, have covers and a suitable slope to ensure complete drainage.

3. Workshop structure

a/ The area where material grinding and crushing machines are located must neither generate dust to the surrounding environment nor affect other production stages.

b/ The area where mashing coppers are located shall be adequately lit and ventilated so as to maintain a temperature as required.

c/ The area where yeast propagation equipment is located must ensure sanitation conditions and meet technological requirements and be easily cleanable and disinfectable.

d/ The area where fermentation tanks are located:

- The ground of the area shall be built of durable, anti-slip and difficult- to-peel-off materials, and have a suitable slope to ensure complete drainage;

- In case fermentation tanks are located in a workshop, the ceilings and walls of the workshop shall be built of waterproof, easily cleanable and anti- mold materials;

- In case yeast is produced right in the production area, the workshop where the yeast propagation equipment is located shall be designed in a way that can ensure asepsis, equipped with a disinfection system and placed under constant control to ensure yeast quality. It is recommended to install automatic doors to maintain asepsis in the yeast propagation section.

- In case the yeast is produced outside the production area, there must be devices and equipment to ensure yeast safety and quality and avoid contamination during the process of yeast delivery and receipt.

d/ The area where filtration tanks and filing systems are located:

- The area shall be situated isolatedly in order to ensure asepsis and avoid insects and cross-contamination from nearby sources of pollution;

- The grounds of workshops shall be built of durable, anti-slip and difficult-to-peel-off materials and must ensure complete drainage. Water drainage systems must have covers;

4. Ventilation system

a/ Workshops must have ventilation doors to ensure air circulation and facilitate the dissipation of heat and exhaust gas generated from production activities;

- The area where material grinding and crushing machines are located must have ventilation and air filtration systems to prevent pollution to other production stages;

- The area where mashing coppers are located shall be designed in a way that can ensure air ventilation, quick dissipation of heat, moisture and odor and maintenance of a temperature and occupational safety as required.

5. Water supply system

a/ To supply sufficient quality water;

b/ There must be sufficient pump systems, water treatment systems, water tanks and water pipe systems, which are always in good condition and regularly inspected to prevent backflow and blockage;

c/ Water supply systems must be separate, have noticeable signs, and be easy to clean so as to ensure safety of the clean water source and avoid contamination;

d/ Water storage, settlement and filtration tanks must fit water treatment technology and shall be cleaned according to regulations or when necessary;

dd/ Upon occurrence of an incident related to water quality, production shall be immediately stopped and products produced during the occurrence of the incident shall be isolated;

e/ There must be standby electricity generators and water pumps so as to ensure uninterrupted production in case of power outage or water pump failures;

g/ After being treated up to standards applicable to beer production, water shall be stored and preserved so as to avoid contamination from sources of pollution.

6. Steam, heat and compressed air supply systems

a/ Steam boilers shall be designed and made of suitable materials, installed in places separated from production areas and regularly inspected according to current regulations;

b/ Steam and compressed air pipe systems shall be designed and made of suitable materials, securely installed, easily distinguished from other pipe systems, and regularly inspected according to current regulations.

7. Waste, wastewater and exhaust gas collection and treatment systems a/ For solid wastes

- Solid wastes shall be collected in suitable tanks or containers put in places convenient for waste collection and treatment without causing adverse impacts to the production process;

- Scrap containers shall be clearly labeled or have signs for distinction from containers of raw materials, semi-finished products and finished products; be made of waterproof and corrosion-resistant materials; be tight and easy to clean (for reusable containers) or easy to destroy (for disposable containers);

- Brewing grains shall be collected once every 48 hours.

- Reusable papers, labels, broken bottles, used or damaged bottle caps shall be collected, sorted at source and stored in distinguishable bags or bins according to internal regulations before being transported to recycling facilities;

- Solid wastes shall be treated by organizations or individuals licensed to operate in the field of environmental treatment by competent state management agencies.

b/ Industrial and daily-life wastewater

- Wastewater treatment facilities shall be located separately from production areas;

- Wastewater treatment capacity and technologies must suit the peak discharge so as to ensure that treated wastewater is up to prescribed environmental standards;

- It is not permitted to directly discharge untreated wastewater into the surrounding environment; drains in production areas must run from clean to less clean areas and ensure complete drainage when the water flow stops.

- Catch pits must have lids; drains and catch pits in production areas shall be cleaned at the end of each workday and regularly dredged according to regulations.

- Beer production establishments located in industrial parks shall discharge wastewater into centralized drainage systems of industrial parks according to current regulations on environmental management in industrial parks.

c/ Exhaust gas from a production area and steam boilers shall be treated so as to cause no adverse impacts to other production areas.

d/ Hazardous wastes

- Hazardous wastes shall be collected, stored, transported and treated separately according to current regulations;

- Hazardous wastes shall be managed and treated by organizations and individuals licensed to treat hazardous wastes by competent state agencies.

8. Warehouse system

a/ General requirements on warehouses (raw material, additive, processing aid, supplies, packaging and finished product warehouses):

- Having a storage capacity suitable to design capacity of the production

line;

- Being periodically maintained and cleaned according to internal

regulations;

- Meeting preservation conditions according to instructions or regulations of manufacturers;

- Being capable of preventing the penetration of insects, rodents and other harmful elements;

- Having information for identifying each type of raw material, additive, processing aid, supplies, packaging and finished product; having warehousing and ex-warehousing records.

b/ Chemical warehouses must meet preservation requirements and conditions according to manufacturers’ instructions or regulations and current regulations on chemical preservation.

c/ Finished product warehouses

In addition to complying with Point a, Clause 7 of this Article, finished product warehouses must meet the following conditions:

- The warehouses shall always be kept at a certain temperature and moisture as required in internal regulations for each type of beer;

- Products stored in finished product warehouses must have information on their name, lot number, date of manufacture, production shift and use duration according to internal regulations;

- There must be a separate space for keeping substandard quality products pending disposal;

9. Raw material and product quality control systems

a/ Quality control areas shall be situated separately and conveniently for quality control in the production process; be equipped with essential machinery, equipment and instruments to measure and inspect basic quality criteria of major raw materials and finished products. Microorganism testing sections must be aseptic and isolated from other testing sections;

b/ If having no quality control sections, establishments shall outsource the control of basic quality criteria of major raw materials and finished products to inspection and analysis organizations that have suitable professional capacity and qualifications;

c/ There must be places for preserving samples and keeping dossiers of preserved samples. Establishments shall comply with regulations on sample preservation and destruction applicable to each type of sample.

10. Internal transportation

a/ Establishment owners shall specify (in writing) requirements on vehicles for, and mode of, internal transportation of beer products as well as preservation conditions and food safety management during internal transportation;

b/ Beer may not be transported in the same tanks or vehicles with supplies, raw materials and chemicals as this might cause cross contamination affecting the quality and safety of the products.

11. Management of records

a/ Establishments shall keep sufficient management records (contracts, invoices, documents, quality testing slips, regulation conformity

announcement dossiers, food safety regulation-conformity announcement dossiers and other relevant documents) for raw materials, auxiliary materials, additives, processing aids, supplies, packages and chemicals to serve origin tracing and food safety and quality control;

b/ Establishments must have sufficient food safety management records according to regulations (certificates of satisfaction of food safety conditions, receipts of regulation conformity announcements or written certifications of food safety regulation-conformity announcements) for their beer products.

Article 6.Equipment, packaging and containers

1. Equipment, packaging and containers in direct contact with beer must comply with the Ministry of Health’s Circular No. 34/2011/TT-BYT of August 30, 2011, promulgating national technical regulations on safety and sanitation of packaging and equipment in direct contact with food.

2. Raw material and finished product packaging equipment and containers shall be made of materials which do not cause contamination to products.

3. Grinding and crushing machines must be suitable to technologies applicable to each type of material and be thoroughly cleaned before and after use.

4. Mashing, malting and lautering equipment:

a/ These equipment must have safety valves in good condition and shall be periodically maintained and repaired so as to ensure safe operation under high pressure and temperature.

b/ Mashing coppers must ensure a heating rate suitable to applied technologies and designed capacity and ensure even heating on their surface.

c/ These equipment shall be cleaned with chemical detergents and disinfected according to the internal industrial cleaning process. The lids of mashing coppers must have edges so as to prevent contamination of water used to clean the outer side of the tanks.

5. Filtration tanks shall be made of contamination-resistant materials and must be easy to install, clean and maintain. They must also be tight so as to avoid loss of CO2 and penetration of oxygen and microorganisms.

6. Fermentation tanks:

a/ The ends of hoses connecting yeast propagation stations shall be hung on a rack and sterilized before use;

b/ Fermentation tanks shall be cleaned with chemical detergents and disinfected according to the internal industrial cleaning process;

c/ Lids of fermentation tanks must have edges so as to avoid contamination of water used to clean the outer side of the tanks.

7. Deaeration and carbonation equipment shall be made of stainless material.

8. Filling equipment must be capable of filling exactly a set volume into a bottle so as to prevent frothing; shall be cleaned and disinfected before use according to a set process.

9 Product-conducting pipe systems shall be cleaned with chemical detergents and disinfected according to the internal industrial cleaning process.

10. Vehicles for internal transportation (lift trucks) shall be kept clean before, during and after use. These vehicles must be specialized lift trucks made of materials which do not cause pollution to beer products so as to ensure food safety.

11. Supporting facilities:

a/ Steam boilers, heating systems, steam supply systems shall be designed in conformity with food safety requirements. Hot air and steam must not cause pollution to products.

b/ Inspection, measuring and testing equipment and equipment subject to strict safety requirements shall be calibrated and inspected according to regulations.

12. Other regulations:

a/ Production equipment and devices shall be regularly maintained, inspected, repaired or replaced when damaged or showing signs of damage.

b/ Waste and hazardous chemical containers shall be designed in a suitable manner to ensure safety and noticeability, be made of durable materials and lockable in order to avoid contamination.

c/ The repair and maintenance of devices, equipment and machinery shall be conducted outside production areas or when production activities have stopped. In case of on-site repair or regular maintenance, devices, equipment and machines shall be cleaned as soon as the repair or maintenance finishes.

d/ Lubricant oils and greases used for equipment and machinery in direct contact with products must be those permitted for use in food production.

Article 7.Establishment owners, workers directly engaged in production and visitors

1. Establishment owners and workers directly engaged in production must possess valid certificates of food safety knowledge granted by functional agencies and units designated by competent authorities.

2. Annually, establishment owners shall arrange at least one medical check-up for themselves and workers directly engaged in production at a medical establishment of district or higher levels. Health records of these persons shall be kept at the establishments.

3. To recruit only those who meet the Ministry of Health-prescribed health criteria for persons directly engaged in food production and processing.

4. When a person directly engaged in production contracts a disease, he/she shall report to competent persons so that he/he shall be assigned to perform other jobs or be allowed to take a leave for medical treatment according to regulations. Such person may return to work only after obtaining a certificate of full recovery and satisfaction of health requirements for food production and processing jobs from a competent health agency.

5. Persons directly engaged in production and processing shall keep all parts of their bodies clean and, before starting to work, wear protective clothes suitable to their working positions.

4. Visitors shall wear protective clothes and follow establishments’

personal hygiene regulations.

Chapter III

FOOD SAFETY ASSURANCE CONDITIONS FOR BEER TRADING ESTABLISHMENTS

Article 8.Beer trading establishments

1. Product display, preservation and storage areas must always be dry and clean so as to ensure that properties of products are kept unchanged and products are not contaminated with hazardous chemicals, impurities or microorganisms harmful to consumer health.

2. To comply with producers’ instructions on product storage.

3. To work out cleaning processes and keep a cleaning diary as instructed by establishment owners.

Article 9.Devices and equipment serving beer trading

Trading establishments must have sufficient equipment and devices so as to meet temperature, moisture, light and other conditions as required by producers for each type of product during the storage and trading of beer products.

Article 10.Management of business dossiers

Beer trading establishments shall keep legal dossiers and documents evidencing the origin and quality of products to serve origin tracing and food safety and quality management.

Article 11.Draught beer sellers

Draught beer sellers shall be equipped with personal protective clothes according to regulations and wear clean gloves or disinfect their hands before serving draught beer.

Article 11.Transportation of beer

1. Beer-transporting vehicles must prevent the penetration of insects and contamination with sources of pollution and be easy to clean.

2. Beer products of different types shall be classified and arranged separately so as to meet producers’ preservation requirements during transportation.

3. Beer products shall not be transported in the same tanks or vehicles with hazardous goods or goods that might cause cross-contamination affecting their quality and safety.

4. Beer product-transporting vehicles and containers during transportation shall be regularly cleaned.

5. Establishments shall work out internal regulations on conditions for food safety assurance during transportation.

Chapter IV

IMPLEMENTATION PROVISIONS

Article 13.Organization of implementation

1. The Department of Science and Technology shall assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with related agencies in, disseminating, and guiding the implementation of, this Circular nationwide.

2. Provincial-level Industry and Trade Departments shall guide and implement this Circular in their localities.

3. In the course of implementation, the Department of Science and Technology shall, when necessary, propose the Ministry of Industry and Trade to amend and supplement this Circular based on management requirements and practical situation.

Article 13.Effect

This Circular takes effect on February 3, 2015.-

For the Minister of Industry and Trade

The Deputy Minister

Ho Thi Kim Thoa