WHEREAS, the Department of Agriculture Philippine Mission in the People ™s Republic of China (PROC), after a thorough inspection and evaluation of four processing plants, found favorable conditions that merit allowing the importation of canned, cooked, processed meat products from PROC;

Whereas, only canned, cooked, processed meat products coming from the following meat processing plants are allowed to be imported;

1. XIAMEN CANNERY FACTORY
   Xiamen Gulong Import and Export Co., Ltd.
   No. 8 Hou Bin Road, Xiamen, PROC
   
   
2. CHINA HUNAN PROVINCIAL YUAN JIANG
   CANNED FOODSTUFFS FACTORY
   Hunan La Mei Zi Food Co., Ltd.
   No. 188 Paomaling Road, Yuanjiang City, Hunan, PROC
   
   
3. NANJING CEREALS, OIL AND FOODSTUFF
   IMPORT AND EXPORT CORPORATION
   No. 13, Shuanglong Xiang, Don Feng Jie, Nanjing,
   PROC
   
   
4. COFCO CHONGQING HECHUAN FOOD
   INDUSTRIAL CO. LTD
   No. 247 Communication Street, He Chuan,
   Chongqing, PROC

Now therefore, the following guidelines are hereby promulgated to allow such importation to wit:

1. The meat processing comes from deboned carcasses:
   
   
   1. from which the major lymphatic glands have been removed;
      
      
   2. which, prior to deboning have been submitted to maturation at a temperature above 2.5 Celsius for a minimum period of twenty-four (24) hours following slaughter, and in which the pH value of the meat was below 6.0;
   
   
2. The meat is subjected to heat treatment in a hermetically sealed container to reach an internal core temperature of at least 70.5 Celsius for a minimum of thirty (30) minutes. After cooking, it shall be packed and handled in such a way that it cannot be exposed to a source of virus.
   
   
3. The Secretary of Agriculture may impose a periodic inspection of the processing plants to determine compliance to import requirements under this Order.
   
   
4. All shipment of canned meat products must be certified by the China Commodity Inspection Bureau (CCIB) that the canned meat:
   
   
   1. have been prepared from the meat of animals which have passed ante and post-mortem examination;
      
      
   2. have been prepared, processed in a sanitary manner under veterinary supervision;
      
      
   3. have not been treated with chemical preservatives or other foreign substances injurious to health;
      
      
   4. are destined for the Philippines and meant to be sold for consumption in the Philippines.
   
   
5. Only original pro-forma invoices issued by the accredited processing plants and authenticated by both the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Philippine Consulate in Beijing, Guangzhou or Xiamen shall be valid as supporting document for the SPS Certificate (Veterinary Quarantine Clearance or VQC) application.
   
   
6. Canned meat products from accredited processing plants should be registered with the Bureau of Food and Drugs (BFAD) of the Department of Health.
   
   
7. The validity of shelf life of the canned meat products is no less than 18-24 months from date of manufacture. Date of manufacture should also be indicated.
   
   
8. The canned meat products should be labelled œFor Export to the Philippines 
   
   
9. The processed meat products are packed in cans embossed with the company patent code of the accredited processing plant.

This Order shall take effect immediately after its publication in at least one (1) newspaper of general circulation.

Adopted: 26 Oct. 1998

(SGD.) WILLIAM D. DAR
Acting Secretary

Recommending Approval:

(SGD.) TEODORO A. ABILAY, PH.D.
Director IV, BAI

(SGD.) DR. EFREN C. NUESTRO
Officer-in-Charge, NMIC