Health Commission strengthens management to make imported meat safer

Important notice issued by the National Health Commission : 

The National Health Commission has ordered meat processing plants in China to clearly identify the sources of their poultry and livestock meat and only accept imports that have obtained negative test results for the novel coronavirus.

Meat producers are also required to ramp up cleansing and disinfection of storage facilities, shipping vehicles, packaging and other equipment, the commission said in a guideline released on July 23th. 

Recently, meat processing companies in Europe and the United States such as Germany, the United Kingdom and other European and American countries have successively experienced cluster outbreak,The slaughter, segmentation, storage, packaging and other workplaces are mostly densely staffed low-temperature closed environments,there is a great risk of virus transmission.

To fend off the risk from overseas producers, the country has suspended meat imports from 23 foreign companies as of July 10,  according to the General Administration of Customs。

According to the guideline, meat producers in medium-to high-risk areas are required to take five samples each from their slaughtering, dissecting and packaging plants for nucleic acid tests daily. Those in low-risk areas are required to collect environmental samples for tests at least once a week.

orkers should stay at least 1 meter from each other on top of taking regular personal protective measures, including taking temperatures, wearing masks and washing hands frequently.

Facilities seeing confirmed infections will be shut down temporarily and workers identified as suspected cases or close contacts should undergo medical observations. Their workplaces or dormitories should also be locked down.