Decree No. 60-1524 on the Control of Manufacture of Canned and Semi-Preserved Fish, Shellfish

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Decree No. 60-1524 on the control of manufacture of canned and semi-preserved fish, shellfish and other marine animals. - 30 December 1960. - Journal Officiel No. 6, 7 January 1961, p. 316.

1. Considered as marine animals within the meaning of Ordinance No. 58-1357 of 27 December 1958 shall be all species of fish, shellfish and other animals living constantly, or for certain periods only, in salt water.

2. Considered as canned and semi-preserved goods respectively within the meaning of the above-mentioned Ordinance shall be those products corresponding to the definitions contained in Article 2 of Decree No. 55241 of 10 February 1955 and in Orders issued in application thereof.

Products not complying with the conditions specified in this Article and in Article 1 above may not be manufactured and marketed as canned or semi-preserved marine animals.

3. Control inspectors shall be selected from among the officials and contract or auxiliary officers in the service of the Ocean Fisheries Scientific and Technical Institute; they shall be approved by order of the Minister for the Merchant Fleet upon the proposal of the Director of the Ocean Fisheries Scientific and Technical Institute.

4. Prior to assuming their duties, inspectors shall take the following oath before the competent court in the district where they are domiciled

"I swear to fulfil my duties well and faithfully and not to disclose or make use of any knowledge of which I may become possessed in the performance of those duties.”

Such oath must be renewed in the case of any change of post by the parties concerned.

5. Analyses necessary in exercising control shall be performed by the laboratories of the Ocean Fisheries Scientific and Technical Institute or by laboratories approved by the Director of the said Institute. General conditions of approval shall be laid down in a joint order of the Minister for the Merchant Fleet and of the Minister of Public Health.

6. 1. Manufacturers must allow the inspectors to conduct all operations necessary for ensuring compliance with Acts and Regulations governing canned and semi-preserved marine animals.

Holders of stocks of marine animals and other raw materials purchased by manufacturers, and the holders of stocks of canned and semi-preserved marine animals not yet sold by the manufacturers, shall also be bound by the above obligation.

11. Apart from routine check samplings of finished products or materials used in manufacture, made for purposes of conducting regular tests at manufacturing premises or warehouses, inspection operations shall also comprise sampling by inspectors at the same places in accordance with the methods prescribed in Article 13.

7. Manufacturers shall be bound to supply inspectors with all information necessary for fulfilment of the latter's duties. At their request, manufacturers shall make available all account records enabling them to verify, in particular, the nature and quantities of marine animals processed, the quantities of products manufactured and current stocks.

Manufacturers must also inform inspectors of the presence in warehouses, adjoining or remote from the factory, of marine animals purchased for processing purposes or of manufactured products not yet marketed. They shall be bound to supply all details concerning such stocks.

8. A record of such inspections shall be kept in a numbered and initialed register and the inspectors shall enter therein not only their comments but also such decisions as are taken in application of the provisions in force.

The manufacturer or holder of stocks of raw materials or manufactured products, or their representatives, must duly acknowledge these entries in the form of a marginal note in the register aforesaid. The register must be maintained at the disposal of the inspectors at all times; the manufacturer or holder of stocks shall be responsible for its custody.

9. Without prejudice to the powers invested in them pursuant to Article 5 of the above-mentioned Ordinance, the inspectors shall seize at the factory or warehouse those raw materials or manufactured products which appear to them to be spoiled, poisonous or unfit for consumption or which, even if they do not appear to be unfit for consumption, do not seem to comply with the legislative provisions or regulations in force.

They shall seize, in particular:

1. Raw materials or manufactured goods of doubtful quality or of a nature likely to have resulted from deterioration or from harmful contamination;

2. Canned or semi-preserved products the manufacture of which does not seem to have been in conformity with regulations;

3. Canned or semi-preserved products put up in boxes, containers or other packaging which bears inscriptions, signs or any other indications which do not appear to be true, genuine or in conformity with regulations, or which do not seem to correspond to the quality of the product.

10. Seized materials and products shall be sealed, or placed in sealed premises, or if such operations are not possible, in premises or a special place belonging to the factory.

A record of seizure shall be entered by the inspector in the register referred to in Article 8. Such entries in the register shall specify inter alia the description and quantity of the seized materials and products and the reason for seizure.

11. Where seizure of canned and semi-preserved foods is ascribable to non-observance of labelling and marking rules which can be immediately detected by the inspector, he shall take necessary steps to remedy the deficiency; he shall release the seized goods as soon as the labelling and marking have been changed and supplemented in accordance with the regulations.

12. Where, after seizure, laboratory examinations or additional tests are necessary, in particular where the character of the seized materials or products may be due to deterioration or harmful contamination, the inspector shall proceed to take samples in accordance with the procedures defined below.

13. The number of samples taken at each sampling and the quantity of sampled material or products shall be determined according to the character of the substance to be examined, the reason for sampling and the verification to be made. In sampling canned or semi-preserved goods, however, not less than four apparently similar samples shall be taken.

Apart from those samples retained by the inspector for purposes of analysis and verification, other samples shall, at the manufacturer's request, be sealed and kept in reserve for purposes of a possible check analysis.

Records of sampling shall be entered in the register referred to in Article 8; such entries shall specify inter alia the description, the number of samples taken and the reason for sampling. The manufacturer, the holder of stocks or their representatives shall be requested to initial such entries in the margin.

Where special requirements for purposes of the control established by the above-mentioned Ordinance shall render it necessary, the methods of sampling specified above shall be defined in an Order issued by the Minister for the Merchant Fleet.

14. 1. If laboratory examinations or verifications conducted show that the seized materials or products may be processed or marketed as they are for purposes of human consumption, the control inspector shall release them from seizure;

2. If laboratory examinations or verifications conducted show that manufacture or sale may be effected only under certain conditions, the manufacturer shall be bound to comply with the instructions issued by the inspector to that end. More particularly, if the inscriptions on boxes or other containers must be amended or amplified, seizure shall continue until the labelling is corrected;

3. If laboratory examinations or verifications conducted show that the materials or products are not fit for human consumption within the meaning of the regulations in force, the inspector shall take steps for their destruction unless they can be used as animal food, or for agricultural or industrial applications under conditions which shall then be notified to the manufacturer by the inspector.

15. Destruction operations ordered in accordance with the provisions of Article 5, paragraph 1, of the aforementioned Ordinance, and the measures prescribed in Articles 9, 11, and 14 above, shall be carried out by the manufacturer in accordance with the instructions and under the supervision of the inspector.

16. Release from seizure and destruction measures, as well as deliveries of foodstuffs effected under the conditions prescribed in Article 14, paragraph 3, shall be recorded in the register referred to in Article 8.

17. Where a consignment of canned or semi-preserved goods is returned to the manufacturer in application of the provisions of Article 4 of the Decree of 10 February 1955, the manufacturer taking delivery of such consignment shall at once notify the Fraud Prevention Service and the district representative of the Inspection Service of the Ocean Fisheries Scientific and Technical Institute thereof; he must obtain previous authorization from the Fraud Prevention Service if he wishes to make further use of the consignment.

18. Every manufacturer of canned or semi-preserved marine animals shall be bound to inform the Ocean Fisheries Scientific and Technical Institute of the exact address of every factory operated by him, the date when such factory was put into operation and the type or types of products manufactured (canned or semi-preserved goods). He must also specify the address of the warehouse or warehouses used for marine animals or other raw materials or for manufactured products where such warehouses and the manufacturing premises are not adjacent.

These particulars must be supplied within a time limit of one month from the date of publication of this Decree in cases where canned or semi-preserved goods have been marketed prior to such publication.

19. Any person or company wishing to establish a factory for canned or semi-preserved marine animals shall submit to the Ocean Fisheries Scientific and Technical Institute the following documents:

1. A memorandum specifying the location of the factory and briefly describing such factory;

2. A plan showing the arrangement of the premises and principal installations, as well as the area covered by the buildings.

Manufacturers wishing to effect, in already-existing establishments, alterations involving the building of manufacturing premises, shall also notify the Ocean Fisheries Scientific and Technical Institute of their plans.

In carrying out their building plans, the parties concerned shall be bound to comply with the instructions issued by the Ocean Fisheries Scientific and Technical Institute within the framework of the health regulations in force, in order to ensure that the products are healthful.

20. The first canned or semi-preserved marine animal products processed in a new establishment may be delivered to consumers only after authorization of the Ocean Fisheries Scientific and Technical Institute.

Any factory the products of which have not yet been marketed before the publication of this Decree shall be considered to be a new factory.

21. 1. Authorization to manufacture canned and semi-preserved marine animal products may be restricted to certain species, on a list issued by order of the Minister for the Merchant Fleet, on the proposal of the Director of the Ocean Fisheries Scientific and Technical Institute, after the Minister of Agriculture has issued his opinion with respect to anadromous species.

2. The canning or semi-preserving of marine animals of a given species which do not possess the biological characteristics rendering possible the manufacture of good quality products may be prohibited in accordance with the same procedure.

3. The designation of canned or semi-preserved marine animals must be in conformity with the nomenclature specified by Order of the Minister for the Merchant Fleet, at the proposal of the Director of the Ocean Fisheries Scientific and Technical Institute, and after the Minister of Agriculture has issued his opinion.

22. 1. Marine animals and other foodstuffs used in the preparation of canned and semi-preserved products must be free from any deterioration and harmful contamination.

The marine animals must, in particular, be free from ammoniacal, fetid or putrid odours. Seasonings and other accompanying substances must also be free from foreign or abnormal odours and flavours.

2. Water used for the manufacture of canned or semi-preserved marine animal products must be approved drinking water. For certain operations, however, e.g., the washing of marine animals, the use of clean and healthy fresh or sea water may be authorized; such water may in no case be such as is likely to impair the quality of the manufactured products or to endanger the health of consumers.

3. Containers used for canned or semi-preserved products must be clean and free from harmful contamination.

4. All manufacturing operations must be conducted under satisfactory conditions as regards cleanliness and salubrity.

5. Products manufactured and intended for sale must be healthy, and must not present any characteristics indicative of deterioration. More particularly, they must not emit any ammoniacal, fetid or putrid odours.

6. Canned and semi-preserved goods must not contain any harmful pathogenic germs, harmful toxins or a toxic dose of any undesirable product resulting from a bacterial action (particularly histamine).

Independently of this condition, canned products must not contain any germ capable of breeding therein or of changing the quality of the product. They must be subjected to sterilization under conditions established by the Ocean Fisheries Scientific and Technical Institute.

7. Unless the regulations so authorize, it shall be prohibited to add any foreign substance to canned and semi-preserved marine animals, seasoning, and other accompanying products.

This prohibition shall apply in particular to any chemical product the use of which is not expressly authorized. It shall also extend to surface applications of any foreign substances to marine animals or other food products.

8. Unless specifically authorized in the regulations, it shall be prohibited to make use of any foodstuffs subjected to treatment likely to change their chemical constitution in an undesirable manner as regards their hygienic or food qualities. This prohibition shall particularly apply to fish oils deodorized by heat treatment and likely to contain polymerization products.

23. The provisions of Article 22 above shall, wherever necessary, be supplemented by Orders issued under the following conditions:

1. As regards hygiene and salubrity, in particular hygiene of factories and manufacturing operations, conditions of warehousing of marine animals or other raw materials and manufactured products, the salubrity