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Management of food businesses to be strengthened with the six management strategies

  • Data Source:Food and Drug Administration, Ministry of Health and Welfare
  • Created:2014-09-07
  • Last Updated:2024-04-25

A number of major secondary regulations have been added to the Act of Governing Food Safety and Sanitation or revised over the past year due to the amendment of the Act (see the attachment). The management of food businesses will focus on the Eight Major Action Agendas for Food Safety and Sanitation Management, and six management strategies will be proactively implemented. In the future, the edible fat and oil industry will be included in the primary inspection list. Plans will be formulated to subject oil to registration, tracing, tracking, and first level quality control. 

1. Complete registration of food businesses 
The Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) enacted the Regulations Governing the Registration of Food Businesses on December 3, 2013, and announced that businesses in the food additives industry should be among the first to complete registration before April 24, 2014. The MOHW also issued a preliminary draft bill of the Food Businesses that Should Apply for Registration Before Operation and the Categories, Scale, and Effective Dates on July 18, 2014. This bill requires manufacturing, processing, catering, import, and trading businesses that have registered their factories, businesses or companies to complete registration by December 31, 2014. 

2. Recording of the sources and destinations 
The MOHW promulgated the Regulations Governing Traceability of Foods and Relevant Products on November 19, 2013. Considering risk control, the MOHW issued two advance notices on August 28, 2014 regarding the draft bill of the Food Businesses that Should Establish Traceability Systems for Foods and Relevant Products. This draft bill, expected to be enforced in phases starting February 5, 2015, requires food businesses in eight major categories to completely retain certificates, documents, and other records regarding food traceability in written or electronic form. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will convene a meeting with scholars and experts in the near future to discuss whether the edible fat and oil businesses should be included in the list of food traceability management, in response to the recent scandal about poor quality recycled oil. 

3. Compulsory periodic inspections 
The MOHW promulgated the Food Businesses Subject to Inspections, Minimum Inspection Cycles, and Other Relevant Matters on August 21, 2014. The first five industries (aquatic food product industry, processed meat product industry, processed dairy product industry, food additive manufacturing and import industries, and special nutritional food industry) should conduct inspections based on the risk control principles starting on December 31, 2014. The FDA will also convene a meeting with scholars and experts in the near future to discuss and evaluate the possibility of obliging the edible fat and oil businesses to carry out first level quality control. 

4. General food factory survey 
The FDA will coordinate with local health authorities to conduct a survey of good hygienic practices (GHPs) in food factories. This will help business operators be informed about correct sanitation and safety standards during their production processes, and strengthen their compliance with hygienic and safe operating procedures. By establishing GHPs in food factories, food sanitation and safety is consequently ensured. The FDA expects to inspect all of the businesses with food factories registered within 30 months to ensure a thorough implementation of GHPs. 

5. Increase in the whistleblower reward 
The amendment to the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation has greatly boosted the rate of reward for reporting or accusing companies of offenses, from 5% to 10% of the fines imposed. Local health authorities are rewarded a certain proportion of the fines or penalties imposed on violators of the Act, which may be used to compensate the reporters or accusers. 

6. Turning fines and penalties into funds 
All of the penalties imposed on violating businesses, fines paid, and amounts recovered from unjust enrichment in accordance with Article 56-1 of the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation will be saved as a food safety protection fund. This fund will cover future expenses related to consumer lawsuits filed pursuant to the Consumer Protection Act due to food safety and sanitation scandals, costs of human health risk assessment, and other expenses spent for the purposes of enhancing food safety and providing litigation support for consumers. 

The FDA remains determined to regain people’s trust in food safety and make sure that bad manufacturers will not dare to, attempt to, or be able to engage in food fraud again. The FDA reminds food businesses once again that they should be responsible for producing and selling safe food and ensuring that they comply with regulations related to food safety and sanitation, and that they must not try to defy the applicable laws and regulations.