Russia to partially adopt Kazakhstan's Technical Regulation for Fish to harmonize food safety legislation of the Custom Union member-countries
Coinciding with the deadline for Custom Union of Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus as of 1 July 2010 the Technical Regulation for Fish safety and Fish products from Kazakhstan will be partially implemented in Russia to help harmonize food safety legislation of the Custom Union member-countries, reports http://www.megafishnet.com/ with reference to the Russian government release.
On the positive side, the Technical Regulation on fish products defines standards and requirements to safety and quality of fish and fish products making barriers to falsified products, cracking down on excessive glaze and consumer fraud what is definitely good for consumers.
However, during the continuing liquidity crisis the fishermen, processing and other plants will have to make considerable investments into refurbishment and modernization of production facilities in order to comply.
The following Clauses will be valid in the Technical Regulation under consideration: 8, 13, 14, 16, 18 - 22, 25 - 27, the second paragraph of Clauses 28, the Clauses 29 - 32, 34 - 39, 45, 46, 48, 49, 51, 53 - 62, 64 of the Technical Regulation "Requirements to safety of fish and fish products" approved by the Government Order of the Republic of Kazakhstan No. 743 dated 19, May2009.
Kazakh regulations specify the conditions of circulation of fish and fish products on the market, and the requirements to secure the presence of documents guaranteeing fish and fish products' safety and traceability (vet certificate, accompanying documents).
Fish and fish products selling shall be carried out in accordance with normative legal documents in veterinary, health care, food safety and trading activity, securing products' safety for environment and human safety.
The Technical Regulation stipulates requirements to fishing vessels, fish processing vessels and factory ships, to the process of fish and fish products manufacture, to packing, labeling of fish and fish products.
More specifically, the label shall provide the following information:
- Fishing area;
- Length and mass of fish (large, medium, small);
- Type of processing;
- For frozen products net weight is written excluding mass of glazing or special protecting coating. Mass share of glazing or protecting coating shall be specified separately;
- Distinctive condition or type of processing if absence of such information may be consumer-misleading;
- Information of ionizing radiation usage;
- Degree of salinity (low-salt, weak-salt, medium-salt, strong-salt);
- Grade (if presented) or category (for frozen fish fillet);
- Inscription "vacuum packed" or "gas environment packed" (if vacuum or gas packing took place).
The Technical Regulations pays special attention to storing safety and contain requirements to transport vehicles for transportation of fish and fish products, etc.