The Draft Regulations Governing the Certification of Vacuum 
Packed Food 
A r t i c l e  1 These regulations are establ ished pursuant to Paragraph 2 of 
 Article 27 of the Act Governing Food Sanitation. 
A r t i c l e  2 Vacuum-packed food certif ication shall be applied on the 
 following items: 
1.   Vacuum-packed, RTE food (read-to-eat). 
2.   Any other items announced by the central competent 
 authority. 
A r t i c l e  3 Application for vacuum-packed food certification shall be filed 
 with the certification body rec ognized and accredited by the central 
 competent authority. 
A r t i c l e  4 The following requirements shall be met when application for 
 vacuum-packed food certification is made: 
1.   It must involve a registered  factory, company or business  
 enterprise established accord ing to the pertinent laws and 
 regulations. 
2.  Sanitation and labeling instruc tions of the commodity must 
meet the “Good Hygiene Practi ce for Vacuum-packed Food” 
or “Good Hygiene Practice for Canned Food”. 
A r t i c l e  5 The application for vacuum-packed food certification shall be filed 
 with the certification body, with a completed application form, and 
 the following documents must be provided on top of the samples 
 for inspection along with the review fee. 
1.   Factory registration certificat es or registration documents of 
 the company or business. 
2.   Floor plan of the manu facturing factory building. 
3.   Basic information of the features of the vacuum-packed 
 RTE food (read-to-eat). 
4.   Safety evaluation report of the vacuum-packed, RTE food  
(read-to-eat). 
5.  The copied self-management of quality and other relevant 
quality management plans for product manufacturing 
procedures and execution carried out for more than 1 month.
6.  Printed copy of the packagi ng bag of the commodity applied 
for. 
The commodity shall be applied for according to its category and 
 the location of its production line . A joint application is permitted 
 if the commodities are on the same production line. A r t i c l e  6 In the course of processi ng the application, the certification 
 body shall sign a certification contra ct with the applicant and issue 
 the certificate and certification number to the products applied for 
 certification after the certificat ion criteria are met in the 
 assessment. 
The assessment described in the preceding paragraph shall be 
 reported to the central competent authority for approval by the  certification body.  
A r t i c l e  7 The certificate described in  the preceding Article shall have the 
 following items written on it: 
1. Certification number (DOH No.) 
2. Product name 
3. Date of issue and new certification 
4. Period of validity of certification 
5. Name and address of the business operator 
6. Name and address of the manufacturing factory 
7. Name of the certification body 
The format of the certificate desc ribed in the preceding Paragraph 
shall be prescribed by the central competent authority. 
A r t i c l e  8 The certification number specified in Paragraph 1 of the preceding 
 Article shall be displayed visi bly and prominently with the   
Standard of Seal of Vacuum-packed Food. 
A r t i c l e  9 Issuance, amendment, a nd revocation of the certificate and 
 certification number shall be pr ocessed by the certification  body  
and submitted to the central competent authority for reference. 
Any change relating to content wr itten on the certif icate shall be 
 indicated in an applicati on with the certification body. 
 Re-certification shall be proce ssed by the certification body if  
necessary. The validity of the certificate is  5 years. Anyone who requires 
 extension after the expiry date shall submit application forms, the 
 certificate, and relevant documentation 3 months prior to the expiry 
 date of the certificate. This shall be submitted to the certification 
 body for approval of the extens ion, and assessment shall be 
 accepted. However, each period of  approved extension shall not 
 exceed 3 years. The ce rtificate shall be voide d in the case of any 
 organization that is overdue in applying or that is not permitted to  extend. A certification fee shall be assessed for any applicant who 
 should change for new certificate. 
Article 10 The certification body shall ca rry out follow-up inspections or spot  checks on the product to be certif ied of the manufacturer and 
 produce records. 
The procedures of the follow- up inspection, added assessment and 
 re-assessment of the certified pr oduct shall be made pursuant to the 
 inspection procedures, added assessment procedures, and 
 re-assessment procedures. 
Procedures relating to follow-up inspections, supplement 
 assessment, or re-assessment as described in the preceding 
 Paragraph shall be reported by the certificati on body to the 
 central competent authority for approval. 
Article 11 The certification authority sh all revoke the product's certification 
 under any of the following circumstances: 
1.   Any product which has been disqualified after inspection 
 and has not been improved immediately. 
2.  Any product which has not been manufactured or not 
entered the market for half a year from the date of the follow-up inspection or the spot check.  
3.   Any certified product of whic h production procedure cannot 
 effectively function. 
Article 12 The certification body shall revoke all the certification for the 
 product if the manufacturer of th e certified product falls under any 
 of the following criteria: 
1.    The factory fails to meet th e criteria for three times starting 
  from the first follow-up inspection in a year. 
2.  Anyone who avoids, interferes with, or refuses the follow-up 
inspection by the certification body. 
3.  Anyone who breaches the use of or authorizes other people 
to use the Standard Seal  of Vacuum-packed Food. 
4.  Anyone whose product causes harm to consumers on 
purpose or by mistake and is such is proven by the 
certification body afte r investigation. 
5.  Any other serious violations. 
Article 13 In case of revocation of a product's certificati on, the certification 
 body shall notify the business operator in writing. The  manufacturing factory shall cease using the vacuum-packed food 
 label and shall recall any such  products which have already 
 entered the market. The plan fo r recall shall be submitted to the 
 local health authority for reference.   
Upon its revocation, the certificate shall be immediately returned. 
Article 14 Any operator whose produc t certification ha s been revoked in  accordance with Article 11 shall be prohibited from filing any 
 application for certification for the same products within 3 months 
 from the date of revocation. Af ter 3 months from the revocation 
 and improvements, the operator shall be permitted to file the  application for certification. The original packaging and 
 certificate number will be permitted to use if the criteria are met  in the assessment. 
Article 15 Any operator whose produc t certification ha s been revoked in 
 accordance with Article Paragra phs 1 of Article 12 shall be 
 prohibited from filing any application for any product made at the  same manufacturing factory with in 3 months from the date of 
 revocation. After 3 months from the revocation and improvements,  the operator shall be permitted to file the application for 
 certification. The original packaging and certificate number will be 
 permitted to use if the criteria are met in the assessment. 
Any operator whose product cer tification has been revoked in 
 accordance with Paragraphs 2-5 of  Article 12 shall be prohibited 
 from filing any application for any product made at the same  manufacturing factory within 1 y ear from the date of revocation. 
Article 16 The Standard Seal of Vacuum-packed Food is registered by the 
 central competent authority in accordance with pertinent laws and 
 regulations. Any cases of counter feiting or cases of unauthorized 
 use made without the approval of  the central competent authority 
 shall be named via the mass media and shall be dealt with  according to pertinent laws and regulations by the central 
 competent authority. 
Article 17 Records and documentation ma de pursuant to these Regulations 
 by the certification body shall be retained for 5 years.  
Operators shall retain records and documentation relating to the 
 operation system of certified co mmodities for a minimum of one 
 year after the expiry date.  
Article 18 Regulations shall be implemented, amended, and abolished as of 
 the time of their promulgation.