Circular No. 53/2014/TT-BCT stipulates food safety conditions for beer production and business establishments.

CIRCULAR

Article stipulates food safety assurance conditions

||| concerning beer production and business establishments

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THE MINISTER OF INDUSTRY AND TRADE

Pursuant to the Law AFood Safety Law number 55/2010/QH12 dated June 17, 2010;

Pursuant to Decree number 38/2012/NĐ-CP dated April 25, 2012 of the Government detailing certain provisions of the Law Ais an organization with legal personality designated by the Ministry of Industry and Trade to conduct one or more testing and conformity assessment activities with technical standards and corresponding standards for food, food additives, food processing aids, food supplements, packaging materials, food containers.

Pursuant to Decree 95/2012/NĐ-CP dated November 12, 2012 of the Government on the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Industry and Trade;

Based on the proposal of the Director of the Department of Science and Technology;

The Minister of Industry and Trade promulgates this Circular stipulating food safety conditions for beer production and business establishments.

PART I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope of Regulation

This Circular stipulates food safety conditions for beer production and business establishments (hereinafter referred to as establishments) under the management responsibility of the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

Article 2. Applicability

1. This Circular applies to:

a) Beer production and business establishments.

b) State administrative agencies with competent authority and organizations and individuals involved in beer production and business activities.

2. This Circular does not apply to:

a) Small beer production and business establishments.

b) Food service establishments and street food vendors within the scope regulated by Circular No. 30/2012/TT-BYT dated December 5, 2012 of the Ministry of Health on food safety conditions for food service establishments and street food vendors.

Article 3. Explanation of Terms

In this Circular, the following terms are understood as follows:

1. A beer production establishment includes all physical facilities, workshops, machinery and equipment, personnel, and environmental factors related to the production of various types of beer.

2. A beer business establishment engages in activities such as introducing, transporting, storing, and selling various types of beer.

3. Small beer production and business establishments are those operated by individuals, groups of individuals, or households registered as individual businesses and not granted a Business Registration Certificate, Enterprise Registration Certificate, or Investment Certificate as prescribed by law.

Ancillary works and systems in beer production include: cold supply system, steam supply, compressed air system; wastewater treatment area; storage areas; toilet area; water treatment system.

Article 4. General Conditions for Beer Production and Business Establishments

Beer production and business establishments must comply with the provisions of Circular No. 15/2012/TT-BYT dated September 12, 2012 of the Ministry of Health on general conditions ensuring food safety for food production and business establishments and the provisions of this Circular.

Chapter II

FOOD SAFETY CONDITIONS FOR BEER PRODUCTION ESTABLISHMENTS

Article 5. Beer Production Establishments

1. Production Site

a) Must be constructed according to the current planning approved by the competent state agency.

b) Must be located away from pollution sources, harmful substances, and other environmental factors that adversely affect the quality and safety of beer products.

c) Must have sufficient area to arrange production lines suitable for the designed capacity of the establishment, ensuring that each production stage meets technological requirements and industrial hygiene measures are applied.

2. Workshop Layout and Design

a) The layout of the production line must be appropriate to the wind direction to avoid adverse effects from pollution sources such as: exhaust gases from boilers, wastewater treatment plants, solid waste collection areas, toilets, and other pollution sources.

b) Separate areas: warehouse (raw materials, auxiliary materials, product support materials, product preservation); production (preparation, cleaning and processing raw materials, saccharification, yeast propagation, fermentation, settling, filtration, bottling, and final product completion); industrial hygiene system (CIP); mechanical power; solid waste collection and wastewater treatment system; ancillary works to prevent cross-contamination.

c) Internal traffic systems must be designed and built to ensure durability, stability, and dust-free operation; elevated walkways must have guardrails or partitions for easy observation and labor safety.

d) Drainage systems (domestic wastewater, production wastewater, rainwater) must be designed and built separately, covered, and sloped to ensure proper drainage without pooling.

3. Factory Building Structure

a) The raw material grinding area must ensure no dust is released into the surrounding environment and does not affect other production stages.

b) The cooking area must be adequately lit and well-ventilated to ensure working environmental temperature complies with regulations.

c) The yeast propagation area must ensure hygiene conditions, meet technological requirements, and facilitate cleaning and sterilization.

d) Fermentation area:

- The floor of the fermentation area must be made of durable, non-slip, and non-peeling material with a slope for good drainage;

- In cases where fermentation equipment is placed inside the workshop, the walls and ceiling of the workshop must be waterproof, easy to clean, and free from mold;

- In cases where yeast propagation is carried out at the production site: the propagation area must be designed to ensure sterility, equipped with a sterilization system, and have a device control system to ensure yeast quality. Automatic doors are encouraged to better control sterile conditions in the propagation area;

- In cases where yeast propagation is not carried out at the production site, there must be equipment to ensure the safety and quality of the seed to prevent contamination during inoculation.

e) Filtration and bottling area:

- Must be arranged separately, ensuring sterility, preventing insects, and cross-contamination from surrounding pollution sources;

- The workshop floor must be made of durable, non-slip, and non-peeling material with good drainage. The drainage system must have covers.

4. Ventilation System

- The workshop must have ventilation openings to ensure air circulation, easy heat dissipation, and gas emission during production;

- The raw material grinding area must be equipped with ventilation and dust filtration systems to ensure it does not cause pollution to other production stages;

- The cooking area must be designed for good ventilation, heat dissipation, moisture removal, and odor elimination, ensuring compliance with working environmental temperature and labor safety regulations.

5. Production Water Supply System

a) Must ensure adequate water supply meeting standards.

b) Must have sufficient pumping, water treatment, tanks or reservoirs, and pipeline systems always in good condition; regular inspections must be conducted to prevent backflow or blockages in pipelines.

c) Water supply pipelines must be separate, clearly marked for easy identification, cleaning, and ensuring safe drinking water, avoiding contamination.

d) Tanks or reservoirs for storage, settling tanks, and filtration tanks must be compatible with the water treatment technology; cleaning shall be carried out according to regulations or when necessary.

đ) In case of water quality incidents, production must be immediately halted and products produced during the incident period isolated.

e) Backup generators and pumps must be available in case of power outage or pump failure to meet the continuous production requirements of the facility.

g) Water after treatment that meets the standard for brewing beer must be stored in separate equipment to ensure it is not contaminated, polluted, or infected by microorganisms from other sources of contamination.

6. Steam, heat, and compressed air supply system

a) Boilers must be designed and manufactured from appropriate materials, located in areas isolated from production zones, and regularly inspected and tested in accordance with current regulations.

b) The steam and compressed air pipeline systems must be designed and manufactured from suitable materials, installed safely, marked or labeled to distinguish them from other pipeline systems, and regularly inspected in accordance with current regulations.

7. Waste collection and treatment system

a) Solid waste:

- Must be collected and stored in appropriate containers or receptacles placed in easily observable locations for convenient collection, treatment, and without adverse impact on production processes;

- Containers for waste materials must be clearly marked or have distinguishing signs from those used for raw materials, semi-finished products, or finished products; made of non-permeable, corrosion-resistant material; ensuring they are sealed and easy to clean (if reused multiple times) or destroyed (if used once);

- Beer lees must be cleaned up thoroughly, at intervals not exceeding 48 hours;

- Various types of paper, labels, broken bottles, old or damaged bottle caps that can be recycled for reuse must be collected, sorted at source, and stored in bags or boxes distinguished according to the facility's regulations before being transported for processing;

- Solid waste must be treated by organizations or individuals permitted by competent state management authorities to operate in environmental treatment fields.

b) Production wastewater and domestic wastewater:

- The wastewater treatment area must be located separately from the production zone;

- Treatment capacity and technology must be appropriate for the peak discharge flow rate of the production facility to ensure that treated wastewater meets prescribed environmental standards;

- Untreated wastewater may not be directly discharged into the surrounding environment; drainage channels in the production area must ensure flow from cleaner to less clean areas and ensure complete drainage under stopped flow conditions;

- Inspection wells must be covered, and drainage channels in the processing area must be cleaned after each day of production; drainage channels and inspection wells must be cleared periodically in accordance with regulations;

- For breweries established within industrial parks, wastewater must be discharged into the centralized drainage system of the industrial park in accordance with current regulations on industrial park environmental management.

c) Exhaust gases from production areas and boiler systems must be treated to avoid adverse effects on other production areas.

d) Hazardous waste:

- Hazardous waste must be collected, stored, transported, and treated separately in accordance with current regulations;

- Must be managed and treated by organizations or individuals permitted by competent state management agencies to operate in hazardous waste treatment fields;

8. Warehouse system

a) General requirements for warehouses (raw materials, food additives, processing aids, supplies, packaging, finished products) must:

- Ensure sufficient capacity according to the design capacity of the production line;

- Have regular maintenance and cleaning schedules as prescribed by the facility;

- Meet storage conditions as directed or regulated by the manufacturer;

- Prevent intrusion by insects, rodents, and other harmful agents;

- Have information to identify each type of raw material, food additive, processing aid, supply, packaging, and finished product stored in the warehouse; maintain records of entry and exit for each warehouse.

b) Chemical warehouses must meet the storage requirements and conditions specified by the manufacturer and current regulations on chemical storage.

c) Finished Product Warehouses

In addition to complying with the provisions of point a Clause 7 of this Article, the following must also be ensured:

- Maintaining appropriate temperature and humidity conditions consistent with technical requirements for storing different types of beer as stipulated by the production facility;

- Have complete information including: product name, production batch, production date, shift production, and other information as prescribed by the facility;

- Having a separate area for temporarily storing products that do not meet quality standards during handling and processing.

9. Quality control system for raw materials and products

a) A separate quality control area must be arranged for ease of quality control during production; equipped with minimum machinery, equipment, and tools for measuring and testing basic quality indicators for main raw materials and finished products. The microbiological testing section must be sterile and isolated from other testing sections.

b) If there is no quality control room, the facility must enter into a contract with a capable and appropriately specialized testing and analysis unit to monitor basic quality indicators for main raw materials and finished products.

c) There must be a sample storage area, sample record, and implement a sample retention and disposal system in accordance with the preservation requirements for each type of sample.

10. Internal Transportation

a) The facility owner must specify in detail (in writing) the means, methods, and conditions for the internal transportation and safe food management of beer products.

b) Beer must not be transported together with materials, raw materials, chemicals that could cause cross-contamination affecting the quality and safety of the product.

11. Record Management

a) Records for management (contracts, invoices, certificates, quality test reports, declarations of conformity or compliance with food safety regulations, Certificates of receipt of declarations of conformity or Certificates of confirmation of compliance with food safety regulations and related documents) for raw materials, food additives, auxiliary materials, processing aids, packaging to serve traceability, quality control, and food safety.

b) Complete food safety management records as required (Certificate of Food Safety Conditions, Certificate of receipt of declarations of conformity or Certificate of confirmation of compliance with food safety regulations and periodic testing results) for beer products produced at the facility.

Article 6. Equipment, tools, packaging

1. Tools and packaging containing beer shall comply with the provisions of Circular No. 34/2011/TT-BYT dated August 30, 2011, issued by the Ministry of Health on national technical regulations for safety and hygiene of packaging and tools directly contacting food.

2. Equipment and tools containing raw materials and finished products must be made from materials that do not contaminate the product.

3. Grinding equipment must be suitable for the technological requirements of each type of raw material and must ensure cleanliness before and after grinding.

4. Equipment for cooking, saccharification, and wort filtration:

a) Must have all safety valves in good working condition, maintained and repaired regularly to ensure safe operation under high pressure and temperature conditions during production with mixing.

b) Must ensure heating speed within a time frame appropriate to technology and design capacity, evenly heating the surface of the cooking vessel.

c) Must be cleaned with chemicals and sterilized according to the industrial cleaning procedures established by the facility owner. Openings on the lid of the cooking vessel must be protected by raised edges to prevent contamination from cleaning water.

5. Beer filtering equipment must be made from non-contaminating materials, easy to install, clean, and maintain. It must ensure airtightness to prevent CO2 loss and oxygen and microorganism intrusion.

6. Fermentation equipment:

a) Connection heads to yeast propagation equipment must hang from racks not placed directly on the floor and must be sterilized before use.

b) Must be cleaned with chemicals and sterilized according to the industrial cleaning system established by the facility owner.

c) Openings on the lid of the fermentation tank must be protected by raised edges to prevent contamination from cleaning water.

7. Gas venting and CO2 saturation equipment must be made of stainless steel.

8. Filling equipment: Must ensure accurate volume filling without overflowing foam; must always be kept clean and sterile before operation, and must have a cleaning and sterilization procedure.

9. Product conveying pipelines must be cleaned with chemicals and sterilized according to the industrial cleaning procedures established by the facility owner.

10. Internal transport equipment (forklifts) must be cleaned thoroughly before, during, and after transporting products. Specialized transport equipment made from non-contaminating materials must be used to ensure food safety.

11. Auxiliary equipment:

a) Steam boilers and heating systems providing steam must be designed to ensure food safety. Hot gases and steam must not cause contamination to the product.

b) Measuring, testing equipment, and equipment with strict safety regulations must be calibrated and inspected according to regulations.

12. Other provisions:

a) Equipment and tools used in production must be regularly maintained, inspected, repaired, or replaced when damaged or showing signs of damage.

b) Waste and hazardous chemical storage containers must be designed to be easily recognizable, have a suitable structure, be made from durable materials that are less prone to damage, and can be locked to prevent contamination.

c) Maintenance and repair of machinery must only be carried out outside the production area or when production has stopped. In cases where maintenance or repair is conducted on-site after completion, equipment and surrounding areas must be cleaned.

d) Lubricants for parts of equipment and machinery directly contacting the product must be types approved for use in food production.

Article 7. Owners of premises, persons directly involved in production, and visitors

1. Facility owners and direct producers must hold valid Food Safety Knowledge Certificates issued by authorized agencies or units designated by competent authorities.

2. The owner of the premises shall be responsible for organizing regular health check-ups for the owner and persons directly involved in production at least once every year at healthcare facilities at the district or higher level. Health monitoring records of individuals must be kept complete at the premises.

3. Only hire individuals who meet the health standards prescribed by the Ministry of Health for those directly involved in food production and processing.

4. Persons directly involved in production who fall ill must report to the competent authority to arrange alternative work or rest for treatment according to regulations, and can only resume work upon obtaining a certificate confirming recovery and meeting the health standards required for food production from the competent health authority.

5. Persons directly involved in production must ensure personal hygiene, change into appropriate protective clothing before starting work.

6. Visitors to the premises must change into protective clothing and strictly comply with all personal hygiene regulations set by the production facility.

Chapter III

FOOD SAFETY REQUIREMENTS FOR BEER BUSINESS PREMISES

Article 8. Business Premises

1. Areas for displaying, storing, and containing products must always be dry, clean, ensuring that product characteristics are not altered, and protected from contamination by harmful chemicals, impurities, or microorganisms that may affect user health.

2. Adhere to the stacking height guidance provided by the manufacturer.

3. Establish a hygiene procedure for the premises and maintain hygiene logs as prescribed by the business owner.

Article 9. Equipment and Utensils for Beer Business

Business premises must have adequate equipment and utensils to meet temperature, humidity, lighting, and other conditions required by the production facility for each type of product throughout the storage and sales process.

Article 10. Management of Business Records

Beer business premises must retain complete records and legal documents proving the origin, quality, and traceability of products for quality management and food safety purposes.

Article 11. Persons Directly Involved in Beer Sales

Beer dispensing staff must be equipped with full personal protective gear as prescribed, and must change into clean gloves or sanitize their hands before pouring draught beer.

Article 12. Transport of Beer in Business Operations

1. Transport vehicles must ensure protection against insect intrusion, contamination from other sources, and ease of cleaning.

2. During transportation, different types of beer products must be classified and stored separately, maintaining the storage conditions required by the manufacturer throughout the transport process.

3. Products should not be transported alongside hazardous goods or items that could cause cross-contamination affecting the quality and safety of the products.

4. Transportation vehicles and containers used during transport must be regularly cleaned and sanitized.

5. Business premises must establish internal rules specifying food safety conditions during product transportation.

Chapter IV

IMPLEMENTING PROVISIONS

Article 13. Implementation Organization

1. The Ministry of Industry and Trade assigns the Department of Science and Technology to lead, in collaboration with relevant units, the dissemination and guidance on the implementation of this Circular nationwide.

2. Provincial Departments of Industry and Trade have the responsibility to guide and implement this Circular within their jurisdiction.

3. During implementation, based on management requirements and actual production and business conditions, the Department of Science and Technology shall propose necessary supplements or amendments to this Circular to the Ministry of Industry and Trade when needed.

Article 14. Effective Date

This Circular takes effect from February 3, 2015.