G/TBT/N/QAT/370
17 December 2014
(14-7301)  Page: 1/2
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade  Original: English
 
  NOTIFICATION 
 
The following notification is being circulated in accordance with Article 10.6. 
 
 
1. Notifying Member:  QATAR 
If applicable, name of local governme nt involved (Articles 3.2 and 7.2):  
2. Agency responsible:  Standards and Metrology Department 
Name and address (including telephon e and fax numbers, email and website 
addresses, if available) of  agency or authority designated to handle comments 
regarding the notification shall be indicated if different from above:  
Ministry of Environment Standard Department P.O Box 23277 
State of Qatar 
E-mail : standard@qatar.net.qa  
3. Notified under Arti cle 2.9.2 [X], 2.10.1 [  ], 5.6.2 [  ], 5.7.1 [  ], other:        
4. Products covered (HS or CCCN wher e applicable, otherwise national tariff 
heading. ICS numbers may be provid ed in addition, where applicable):  
Microbiological criteria for foodstuffs (ICS Code: 67.050) 
5. Title, number of pages and lang uage(s) of the notified document:  Microbiological 
criteria for foodstuffs (28 pages, in English; 41 pages, in Arabic) 
6. Description of content:  This draft technical regulation is concerned with microbiological 
limits for some foodstuffs intended for human consumption and for some food ingredients used in food industry, definition, requirements, criteria of technical conformity. 
7. Objective and rationale, including the nature of urgent problems where 
applicable : To maintain quality of this product, consumer protection and marketing 
relation of GCC countries and food safety. 
8. Relevant documents:   
1. Brockmann, S., Piechotowski, I., Kimmig, P. (2004). Salmonella in Sesame Seed 
Products. J Food Prot 67 (1), p: 178-180; 
2. Bull, A., Crerar, S., and Beers, M. (2002). Australia’s Imported Food Program - A 
Valuable Source of Information on Microorganisms in Foods. CDI 26(1), 28-32. (11, 
30); 
3. CAC/GL 50-2004 General Guidelines on Sampling; 
4. Codex Standard 292-2008. Standard for Live and Raw Bivalve Mollusks; 
5. Commission Regulation (EC) No 1441/2007 of 5 December 2007 amending 
Regulation (EC) No 2073/2005 on Microbiologi cal Criteria for Foodstuffs. Official J 
Eur. Union. (1, 25). (1, 36). (1, 19). (1, 21); 
6. Food Administration Manual, S.11: Microbiological Reference Criteria for Food, 
Version 2 (1995), p: 25,16,15,14, 17, 21, 23, 18, 19, and 20; G/TBT/N/QAT/370 
 
- 2 - 
 
  7. Gilbert, RJ Louvois, J de Donovan, T & Others (2000). Guidelines for the 
Microbiological Quality of Some Ready-to-Eat Foods Sampled at the Point of Sale. Commun Dis Public Health, 3 (3): 163-7; 
8. GSO 1017/98 Edible Essential Water Rose Water - Flower Water; 
9. GSO 1320/2002 Soft Candy; 
10. GSO 1821/2007 General Standard for Fruit Juices and Nectars; 
11. GSO 1822/2007 Cream caramel powder; 
12. GSO 1968/2009 Concentrated Cane Syrup; 
13. GSO 1969/2009 Liquorice Root; 
14. GSO 222/2005 Table Olives; 
15. GSO 263/1994 Hard Candy; 
16. Guidelines for Assessing the Microbiological Safety of Ready-to-Eat Foods Placed on 
the Market. London: Health Protection Agency, November 2009; 
17. Hasell, S., Salter, M. (2003). Review of the Microbiological Standards for Foods. Food 
Control 14, p: 391-398. Ref 12, 395; 
18. Health Products and Food Branch (HPFB) Standards and Guidelines for 
Microbiological Safety of Food - An Interpretive Summery- 2008. Canadian Food 
Inspection Agency (CFIC); 
19. International Commission on Microbiological Specification for Foods (ICMSF). 
Microorganisms in Foods-2. Sampling for Microbiological Analysis: Principles & 
Specific Applications (1986) 2nd Ed.; 
20. Isolation and Enumeration of Cronobacter Sakazakii from Dehydrated Powdered 
Infant Formula, FDA US, 2002; 
21. Standard 1.6.1 – Microbiological Limits for Food. Volume 2 of the Food Standards 
Code, the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code (ANZFA), 2001; 
22. Tomato Products - Specification, Part-3: Sauce and Ketchup, 2005. Kenya Bureau of 
Standards (KEBS); 
23. Varga, L. (2007).  Microbiological Quality of Commercial Dairy Products. 
Communicating Current Research and Educational Topics and Trends in Applied 
Microbiology A. Méndez-Vilas (Ed.), p: 487-494; 
24. www.ams.usda.gov/standards/peanutbu.pdf ; 
25. Dean O Clayfire, translation Prof. Dr. Mesfer Al Daqel, Dr Ismaeell Al Shayb (2010), 
Food-Borne Diseases. 
9. Proposed date of adoption: Upon publication in the official journal  
Proposed date of entry into force: Six months as from the date of application in the 
official journal 
10. Final date for comments:  60 days from the date of notification 
11. Texts available from: National enquiry point [X] or address, telephone and fax 
numbers and email and website addresse s, if available, of other body:  
Ministry of Environment 
Standard Department Email: standard@qatar.net.qa  
https://members. wto.org/crnattachments/2014/TBT/QAT/14_5461_00_e.pdf   
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