Food and drug safety ministry brings livestock recall notices online

The food and drug safety ministry said it had revised livestock hygiene rules to allow recall notices for unsafe products in internet newspapers published by daily newspaper companies, citing the public's shift toward digital news.

The revision also formalizes an online rapid-notification service under which businesses that give an email address and mobile number on the collection receipt can receive results immediately. It replaces a process in which unsuitable results were sent in writing and suitable findings could take about 10 days after a request for disclosure. The service was tested nationwide from May 26 through June 30. The ministry said it plans to seek a legal revision that would count government collection and inspection results as self-quality inspection results.

For processed livestock products, checks for foreign materials and product condition may be carried out at least monthly by product type instead of for every production lot. The ministry also removed incoming-ingredient checks that overlapped with receiving inspections under safety management certification standards. Safety management certification training for operators and farmers was cut to two hours from four, while employee training was reduced to 16 hours from at least 24. The score required for an excellent workplace to be exempted from the following year's inspection and assessment was lowered to 90% from 95%.

Egg-processing businesses that handle only liquid egg ingredients may omit equipment unrelated to their process if local authorities find no hygiene risk. Operators other than slaughterhouses and milk-collection businesses will no longer need to report temporary closures lasting less than one month. Required edible-egg transaction and disposal records will no longer have to list sales to final consumers.