Question:

Mr. Sang intends to open a small roadside cafe which supplies drinks and breakfast. Mr. Sang would like to know whether he must apply for a  Certificate of Food safety for his cafe or not.

Our advice:

Thank you so much for trusting and sending the mentioned-above question to Bizlawyer & Partners. We would give advice on cases where the CFS is exempted from, and requirements for facility and food safety.

1. Exemption from the certificate of food safety (“CFS”)

According to the Article 12, Decree 15/2018/ND-CP guiding some articles of the law of food safety 2010, the following entities are not required to obtain CFS:

• Micro food manufacturers;
• Mobile food manufacturers and sellers;
• Micro food processors;
• Micro food sellers;
• Sellers of prepackaged foods;
• Manufacturers and sellers of instruments and materials for wrapping and storing food;
• Restaurants within hotels;
• Industrial kitchens not registered as a food business;
• Street food vendors; and
• Any food business that has one of the following certificates: GMP, HACCP, ISO 22000, IFS, BRC, FSSC 22000 or an equivalent certificate

Accordingly, by running a café, Mr. Sang is considered as a ‘micro food seller’ under food safety law. Therefore, he is not required to obtain the CFS.

However, according to Article 22 of Law on food safety, the roadside café of Mr. Sang still needs to eligible for the following conditions

• Ensuring safely distance from toxic and contaminating sources;
• Having appropriate equipment for food production and trading which neither harm nor contaminate food;
• Using materials, chemicals, food additives, processing aids, food-packaging tools, and food packages and containers in preliminary processing, processing, and preservation of food;
• Complying with regulations on health, knowledge and practices of persons directly engaged in food production and trading:
• Collecting and treating waste under the law on environmental protection; and
• Maintaining food safety assurance conditions and storing trading-related information to ensure the tracing of food origin

2. Food safety requirements

According to Article 5, Decree 155/2018/ND-CP, the café must also satisfy the following requirement for food safety during its operation:

• Complying with the regulations in Articles 19, 20, 21, 22, 25, 26 and 27 of the Law on Food Safety and the following specific requirements:

– Food manufacturing process shall be designed to provide an operational flow-through pattern and follow a sequence from raw materials to finished products.

– Walls, ceilings, and floors of the production, trading and storage areas must be water-resistant, without flaws and moisture-resistant.

– Equipment and tools in direct contact with food must be easy to clean, not release harmful substances into the food and not contaminate it.

– There must be boots, shoes or sandals for personal use in the food production area.

– There must be no invasion of harmful insects and animals in the food production area and the food and ingredient storage area; rodenticides, insecticides, and pesticides must not be used within the food production area, as well as the food and ingredient storage area.

– Not displaying and selling chemicals for other purposes in the facilities trading additives and food processing aids.

• The persons who directly produce and trade food must be trained and provided with knowledge on food safety, as well as be authorized by the facility owner (Mr. Sang) and must not contract any of the following diseases during food manufacturing and trading process: cholera, hepatitis A and E, skin infection, tuberculosis and diarrhea epidemic

Conclusion

Hopefully, the information in this article is useful to you. If you still have any question about food safe certificate,  you could contact us via our email: Info@bizlawyer.vn or Hotline Call: (+84)86.888.1900 for timely advice and support.