G/SPS/N/CHN/1152  
 
11 May 2020  
(20-3527) Page: 1/2 
Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures  Original: English  
 
  
NOTIFICATION  
1. Notifying Member:  CHINA  
If applicable, name of local government involved:   
2. Agency responsible:  National Health Commission of the People's Republic of China 
(NHC)  
3. Products covered (provide tariff item number(s) as specified in national 
schedules deposited with the WTO; ICS numbers should be provided in addition, 
where applicable):  Ready -to-eat food in bulk  
4. Regions or countries likely to be affected, to the extent relevant or practicable : 
[X] All trading partners   
[ ] Specific regions or countries:   
5. Title of the notified document:  National Food Safety Standard of the P.R.C.: Pathogen 
Limits for Ready -to-eat Food in bulk . Language(s):  Chinese . Number of pages:  6 
https://members.wto.org/crnattachments/2020/SPS/CHN/20_3142_00_x.pdf  
6. Description of content:  This standard stipulates the pathogenic microorganism index, 
limit requirement, sampling rule and inspection method in ready -to-eat food in bulk. This 
standard is applicable to all kinds of ready -to-eat food in bulk. It is not applicable to 
catering services and primary agricultural products that have not been processe d. 
7. Objective and rationale: [X]  food safety, [  ] animal health, [  ] plant protection, 
[ ] protect humans from animal/plant pest or disease, [  ] protect territory from 
other damage from pests.   
8. Is there a relevant international standard? If so, iden tify the standard:  
[X] Codex Alimentarius Commission (e.g.  title or serial number of Codex 
standard or related text) : CAC/GL 61 -2007 Guidelines on the application of 
general principles of food hygiene to the control of listeria monocytogenes in foods  
[ ] World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) (e.g.  Terrestrial or Aquatic 
Animal Health Code, chapter number) :  
[ ] International Plant Protection Convention (e.g.  ISPM number) :  
[ ] None  
Does this proposed regulation conform to the relevant internationa l standard?  
[ ] Yes   [X] No  
If no, describe, whenever possible, how and why it deviates from the 
international standard:  Food category is different from CAC standard. The food 
categorizations in this standard are drafted according to the characteristics and 
classification habits of Chinese ready -to-eat foods.  G/SPS/N/CHN/1152  
 
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  9. Other relevant documents and language(s) in which these are available:  None  
10. Proposed date of adoption (dd/mm/yy) : To be determined.  
Proposed date of publication (dd/mm/yy) : To be determined.  
11. Proposed date of entry into force: [  ] Six months from date of publication , 
and/or  (dd/mm/yy) : To be determined.  
[ ] Trade facilitating measure   
12. Final date for comments: [X]  Sixty days fr om the date of circulation of the 
notification and/or (dd/mm/yy) : 10 July 2020  
Agency or authority designated to handle comments: [  ] National Notification 
Authority, [X]  National Enquiry Point. Address, fax number and e -mail address 
(if available) of othe r body:   
13. Text(s) available from: [  ] National Notification Authority, [X]  National Enquiry 
Point. Address, fax number and e -mail address (if available) of other body: