Legal basis and governing coverage
- Republic Act No. 9296 directs the Secretary of the Department of Agriculture, through NMIS, to adopt internationally recognized standards, recommendations, procedures, or guidelines to ensure the quality and safety of meat and meat products (Section 44(a) of RA 9296).
- Local Government Units (LGUs) serve as the principal controlling authority within their territorial jurisdiction under Republic Act No. 7160, with responsibilities for post-establishment control under Section 3.1.
- NMIS assists LGUs in implementing the regulation under Section 3.2.
Policy objective and cold-chain control
- The regulation is issued because increasing influx of imported and local frozen meat and meat products affects market safety and quality.
- Frozen meat and meat products thaw when exposed to ambient temperature, causing escape of natural meat juices that affect quality when omitted or abstracted.
- The regulation requires maintenance of safe handling conditions through the cold chain until the products reach consumers, enforced through handling and temperature-control requirements.
Core definitions for compliance
- Cold Storage refers to a meat establishment accredited by NMIS used for storage of local and imported frozen meat and meat products (Section 2.1).
- Frozen Meat and Meat Products refer to meat and meat products subjected to freezing temperature below -18°C (Section 2.2).
- Hot Meat refers to meat and meat products slaughtered, prepared, processed, handled, packed, or stored in an unregistered/unaccredited meat establishment (Section 2.3).
- Meat Establishment means premises such as slaughterhouse, poultry dressing plant, meat processing plant, cold storage, warehouse, and other meat outlets approved and registered by NMIS where food animals, meat, or meat products are slaughtered, prepared, processed, handled, packed, or stored as applicable (Section 2.4).
- Meat Market means an area authorized by government for the sale/trade of meat and meat products; it may be part of a public market or supermarket (Section 2.5).
- Meat Product is any product capable of use as human food made wholly or in part from any meat or other portion of a carcass of food animals, with exemptions for products that contain meat only in relatively small proportion or are historically not considered meat-industry products, and with exemptions that the Secretary may grant under conditions ensuring products are not adulterated and not represented as meat products (Section 2.6).
- Post-establishment Control means monitoring and checking of meat and meat products during transport and sale in any meat outlet, and surveillance of persons/vehicle and casing of place involved in illegal processing or storage, and measures related to such surveillance and casing (Section 2.7).
- Primary Packaging refers to first-layer food grade wrapping materials in direct contact with the product to protect it from contamination (Section 2.8).
- Thawing refers to defrosting of a frozen product through exposure to higher temperature or by means of technology (Section 2.9).
Who is covered and what activities are regulated
- The order covers all persons and entities engaged in the sale of frozen meat and meat products in the meat market (Section 1).
- Accreditation/licensing or LGU registration is required for all persons and entities engaged in handling and sale in meat markets (Section 4.1.1).
- The order applies to handling activities involving display, sale, thawing, repacking, storage, transport, and retail packaging requirements for frozen meat and meat products (Section 4).
- Products covered must be frozen meat and meat products offered for sale in the meat market and must be accompanied by required inspection documentation (Section 4.2).
Handling requirements and temperature rules
- All persons and entities engaged in handling and sale of frozen meat and meat products in meat markets must be accredited/licensed by NMIS or registered with the LGUs (Section 4.1.1).
- Frozen meat and meat products must be displayed and sold in meat stalls in sealed primary packaging (Section 4.1.2).
- Thawing and repacking from bulk packaging must be done in an NMIS accredited meat establishment under a temperature-controlled environment of 10°C (Section 4.1.3).
- The meat establishment officer must inspect and certify as to the products’ fitness for human consumption after thawing/repacking (Section 4.1.3).
- Retail packaging materials must ensure traceability and must bear the identity of the original source (including name, address, accreditation number) and the identity of the NMIS licensed repacker (Section 4.1.4).
- Retail packages must be stored in refrigerated facilities and transported in vehicles able to maintain temperature not higher than 4°C (Section 4.1.5).
- In the meat stall, retail-packed frozen meat and meat products must be kept in sanitary containers made of approved materials, preferably stainless steel or food grade plastic (Section 4.1.5.1).
- In the meat stall, retail-packed products must be kept at temperature not higher than 10°C (Section 4.1.5.2).
- All frozen meat and meat products offered for sale in the meat market must be accompanied by a Meat and Meat Product Inspection Certificate (Section 4.2).
Implementation and post-establishment control
- LGUs must conduct post-establishment control as the principal controlling authority in regulating meat and meat products within their territorial jurisdiction under Republic Act No. 7160 (Section 3.1).
- LGUs must monitor transport, storage, and display of covered products and must ensure that the necessary documents are present at all time (Section 3.1).
- NMIS must assist LGUs in implementing the regulation (Section 3.2).
Penalties and related charges
- Any person, firm, or corporation found guilty of directly or indirectly violating any provision of the order may, in addition to penalties and sanctions under Republic Act No. 9296 (Meat Inspection Code of the Philippines), also be charged for violation of the Consumer Act of the Philippines (Section 5).
Effectivity, publication, and filing
- The order becomes effective fifteen (15) days after:
- publication in a newspaper of general circulation or in the Official Gazette, and
- filing of a copy at the UP Law Center (Section 6).