Guangdong: Licence Now Required for Manufacture of Food-Related Products

New measures regarding the supervision and administration of the production and processing of food-related products in Guangdong have recently been issued. Under the terms of this new directive – effective as of 1 July 2017 – any enterprise wishing to produce any food-related product, designated as requiring a licence in the Catalogue of Industrial Goods, must first apply to the department with overall responsibility for quality and technical supervision with regards to that particular product category. This requirement applies to any company looking to produce any packaging materials likely to come into direct contact with food, as well as all containers, detergents, disinfectants, tools and equipment intended for use in any food-related sector.

Once any given enterprise has obtained a production licence, it is obliged to comply with all relevant legal and regulatory requirements, as well as with three rules with a particular application to the manufacture of food-related products:

• A system for checking and inspecting all purchased materials must be established. This must accurately record the name, specifications, quantity and production date of all raw materials. Alternatively, records can be kept of the production batch number, best-before date and receipt date of all such raw materials. The name, address and contact details of all suppliers must be recorded, while all relevant records should also be retained.

• An ex-factory system must be established for the inspection of all items produced under the governance of the applicable food safety standard. All such items should only be allowed to leave the factory or be sold on after they have passed such an inspection. Should any enterprise not have the capability to conduct such an inspection, the inspection should be entrusted to a qualified inspection institution and all of the relevant records retained.

• The name, specifications, quantity, production date/production batch number, best-before date, inspection certificate number and date of sale of all ex-factory products must be accurately recorded, as must the name, address and contact details of the purchaser, with all of the relevant records retained.

These new requirements were outlined in the Measures for the Supervision and Administration of the Production and Processing of Food-Related Products in Guangdong Province.

For further details (in Chinese), please refer to the following website:

Measures for the Supervision and Administration of the Production and Processing of Food-Related Products in Guangdong Province