Order No. 97 of the State Administration for Market Regulation

Decision of the State Administration for Market Regulation on Amending the "Regulations on the Supervision and Administration of Enterprises' Implementation of Food Safety Main Responsibility"

(Published by the State Administration for Market Regulation Order No. 97 on February 23, 2025, effective from April 15, 2025)

　　The State Administration for Market Regulation decides to make the following amendments to the "Regulations on the Supervision and Administration of Enterprises' Implementation of Food Safety Main Responsibility":

　　1. Change the name of the regulation to: "Regulations on the Supervision and Administration of Food Safety Main Responsibility of Food Production and Operation Enterprises."

　　2. Amend Article 1 to: "In order to urge food production and operation enterprises to implement the main responsibility for food safety, strengthen the food safety responsibility of the principal person in charge, regulate the behavior of food safety management personnel, and ensure food safety, these regulations are formulated in accordance with the Food Safety Law of the People's Republic of China (hereinafter referred to as the Food Safety Law) and its implementing regulations and other laws and regulations."

　　3. Amend Article 2 to: "Within the territory of the People's Republic of China, the behaviors and supervision and administration of food production and operation enterprises and their principal persons in charge, as well as food safety directors, food safety officers, and other food safety management personnel in implementing food safety responsibilities according to law, shall be governed by these regulations."

　　4. Amend the second paragraph of Article 3 to: "The principal person in charge of a food production and operation enterprise is fully responsible for the enterprise's food safety work, establishes a long-term mechanism for implementing the main responsibility for food safety, and promotes its effective operation. Food safety directors and food safety officers shall assist the principal person in charge in food safety management according to their job responsibilities."

　　5. Amend Article 4 into two articles, as Article 4 and Article 5, revised as follows:

　　"Article 4: The principal person in charge of a food production and operation enterprise shall support and guarantee that food safety directors and food safety officers carry out food safety management work according to law. Before making major decisions involving food safety, they shall fully listen to the opinions and suggestions of food safety directors and food safety officers.

　　"Article 5: If food safety directors or food safety officers discover potential risks of food safety incidents, they shall propose veto suggestions such as stopping related food production and operation activities. The principal person in charge of the food production and operation enterprise or the food safety director shall immediately analyze and judge the situation, take disposal measures, and eliminate risks and hidden dangers. If there is a potential risk of a food safety incident, the food production and operation enterprise shall immediately stop food production and operation activities and report to the county-level market supervision department where it is located."

　　6. Change Article 5 to Article 6, amended as: "Food production and operation enterprises shall legally equip food safety officers. The following food production and operation enterprises shall also equip food safety directors:

　　"(1) Special food production enterprises;

　　"(2) Large and medium-sized food production enterprises;

　　"(3) Large and medium-sized food sales enterprises;

　　"(4) Large and medium-sized catering service enterprises (including central kitchens and collective meal delivery units with more than 1,000 people served);

　　"(5) Headquarters of chain food sales and chain catering service enterprises.

　　"Local market supervision departments at or above the county level shall, based on actual conditions, guide food production and operation enterprises in their jurisdiction that meet the conditions to equip food safety directors."

　　7. Change Article 6 to Article 7, amend the fourth item of the first paragraph to: "(4) Participate in food safety management personnel training and pass the assessment."

　　Amend the second paragraph to: "Food safety directors shall be held by management personnel of food production and operation enterprises."

　　8. Change Article 7 to Article 8, amended as: "Food production and operation operators whose licenses have been revoked due to food safety violations shall not serve as food safety directors or food safety officers in food production and operation enterprises within five years from the date of the penalty decision, including their legal representatives, directly responsible supervisors, and other directly responsible personnel.

　　"Persons sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment or above for food safety crimes shall be permanently prohibited from serving as food safety directors or food safety officers in food production and operation enterprises."

　　9. Change Article 8 to Article 9, amend the fifth item of the first paragraph to: "(5) Accept and cooperate with supervision and management departments in carrying out food safety supervision and inspection work, truthfully provide relevant information, and organize rectification and implementation of problems found during inspections."

　　Add a paragraph as the third paragraph: "If a food production and operation enterprise is not required to equip and has not equipped a food safety director according to these regulations, the responsibilities of the food safety director shall be performed by the principal person in charge of the enterprise or a food safety officer designated by the enterprise."

　　10. Change Article 10 to Article 11, amend "food safety risk control list" in the first paragraph to "Food Safety Risk Control List."

　　Add a paragraph as the second paragraph: "Food production and operation enterprises may organically combine and implement daily control, weekly inspection, and monthly scheduling work systems and mechanisms with already established work systems and mechanisms."

　　11. Change Article 11 to Article 12, amend "enterprises shall establish a daily food safety control system. Food safety officers conduct inspections daily according to the risk control list" to "Food production and operation enterprises shall establish a daily food safety control system. During production and operation, food safety officers conduct daily inspections according to the Food Safety Risk Control List."

　　12. Change Article 12 to Article 13, amended as: "Food production and operation enterprises shall establish a weekly food safety inspection system. During production and operation, food safety directors or food safety officers shall organize at least one risk and hidden danger inspection per week, analyze and judge food safety management situations, study and solve problems found in daily control, and form a "Weekly Food Safety Inspection and Management Report."

　　13. Change Article 13 to Article 14, amended as: "Food production and operation enterprises shall establish a monthly food safety scheduling system. During production and operation, the principal person in charge shall listen to at least one report on the management work of the food safety director each month, summarize the daily food safety management, risk and hidden danger inspection and management of the month, arrange key work for the next month, and form a "Monthly Food Safety Scheduling Meeting Minutes."

　　14. Change Article 14 to Article 15, amended as: "Food production and operation enterprises shall record and archive for future reference the staffing and adjustment of principal persons in charge, food safety directors, food safety officers, the Food Safety Risk Control List, Food Safety Director Responsibilities, Food Safety Officer Code of Conduct, Daily Food Safety Inspection Records, Weekly Food Safety Inspection and Management Reports, Monthly Food Safety Scheduling Meeting Minutes, as well as opinions, suggestions, and reports submitted by food safety directors and food safety officers regarding their duties."

　　15. Change Article 15 to Article 16, amended as: "Market supervision departments shall focus their supervision and inspection on the establishment and implementation of food safety responsibility systems and other management systems by food production and operation enterprises, food safety risks and hidden dangers found during daily control, weekly inspection, and monthly scheduling, and rectification situations."

　　16. Change Article 16 to Article 17, amend the first paragraph to: "Food production and operation enterprises shall organize food safety knowledge training for their employees, provide legal, regulatory, rule, standard, and professional knowledge training and assessment for food safety directors and food safety officers, and record and archive the training and assessment results. Food safety directors and food safety officers shall participate in no less than 40 hours of training annually."

　　The second paragraph is amended to: "Local market supervision and administration departments at or above the county level shall organize random supervision and spot checks and assessments of the main persons in charge of food production and operation enterprises within their jurisdiction, as well as food safety directors, food safety officers, and other food safety management personnel, according to the guidelines for supervision and spot check assessments of enterprise food safety management personnel formulated by the State Administration for Market Regulation, including assessment outlines and exam question banks, and shall publish the assessment results. The methods and content of supervision and spot check assessments shall be adapted to the types of food production and operation enterprises, categories of personnel, types of food produced or operated (places), and positions (links) involved, and no fees shall be charged."

　　Seventeen: Article 17 is changed to Article 18, and "enterprise" in the second paragraph is changed to "food production and operation enterprise."

　　Eighteen: Article 18 is changed to Article 19, and the phrase "as stipulated by laws and administrative regulations, in accordance with such provisions" is deleted.

　　Nineteen: Article 19 is changed to Article 20, and "food production and operation enterprises and other units" in the first paragraph is changed to "food production and operation enterprises"; "the legal representatives, main persons in charge, directly responsible supervisors, and other directly responsible personnel of the units" is changed to "the legal representatives, main persons in charge, food safety directors, food safety officers, and other directly responsible supervisors and personnel of the enterprises."

　　The second paragraph is amended to: "If food production and operation enterprises and their main persons in charge fail to adopt veto suggestions proposed by food safety directors or food safety officers in accordance with Article 5 of these regulations without justifiable reasons, or if food safety directors fail to adopt veto suggestions proposed by food safety officers in accordance with Article 5 of these regulations without justifiable reasons, it constitutes a deliberate illegal act as stipulated in the preceding paragraph. Food safety directors and food safety officers who have performed their duties in accordance with the law shall not be punished."

　　Twenty: Article 20 is changed to Article 21, amended to: "The meanings of the following terms under these regulations are as follows:

　　"The main person in charge of a food production and operation enterprise refers to the primary decision-maker in the enterprise's production and operation activities, including the legal representative, person in charge, actual controller, etc., who bear overall leadership responsibility.

　　"Directly responsible supervisors refer to personnel who bear direct management responsibility in illegal activities, including food safety directors, etc.

　　"Other directly responsible personnel refer to those who specifically implement illegal acts and play a significant role; they can be production and operation management personnel of the unit or employees of the unit, including food safety officers, etc.

　　"Food safety director refers to the food safety management personnel legally appointed within the management of food production and operation enterprises who undertake the responsibilities stipulated in Article 9 of these regulations.

　　"Food safety officer refers to the food safety management personnel legally appointed within food production and operation enterprises who undertake the responsibilities stipulated in Article 10 of these regulations."

　　Twenty-one: Article 21 is changed to Article 22, amended to: "Non-food producers and operators engaged in food storage businesses with special requirements for temperature, humidity, etc., as well as third-party online food trading platforms, large food warehousing enterprises, organizers of centralized food trading markets, and organizers of food exhibitions and sales shall implement these regulations by reference.

　　"Market supervision and administration departments of provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the central government shall formulate other management measures for food producers and operators to fulfill food safety main responsibilities with reference to these regulations according to local conditions."

　　Twenty-two: Add an article as Article 23: "Regulations on the fulfillment of food safety main responsibilities by centralized dining units shall be formulated separately."

　　This decision shall come into effect on April 15, 2025.

　　The "Regulations on Supervision and Administration of Enterprises Fulfilling Food Safety Main Responsibilities" shall be amended accordingly based on this decision, and the order of articles shall be adjusted correspondingly and republished.

Regulations on Supervision and Administration of Enterprises Fulfilling Food Safety Main Responsibilities

(Promulgated by the State Administration for Market Regulation Order No. 60 on September 22, 2022, amended according to the State Administration for Market Regulation Order No. 97 on February 23, 2025, "Decision of the State Administration for Market Regulation on Amending the Regulations on Supervision and Administration of Enterprises Fulfilling Food Safety Main Responsibilities")

　　Article 1: In order to urge food production and operation enterprises to fulfill their main responsibilities for food safety, strengthen the food safety responsibilities of the main persons in charge, regulate the behavior of food safety management personnel, and ensure food safety, these regulations are formulated in accordance with the Food Safety Law of the People's Republic of China (hereinafter referred to as the Food Safety Law) and its implementing regulations and other laws and regulations.

　　Article 2: Within the territory of the People's Republic of China, the behaviors of food production and operation enterprises and their main persons in charge, as well as food safety directors, food safety officers, and other food safety management personnel in fulfilling food safety responsibilities according to law and their supervision and administration shall be governed by these regulations.

　　Article 3: Food production and operation enterprises shall establish and improve food safety management systems, implement food safety responsibility systems, legally appoint food safety directors, food safety officers, and other food safety management personnel appropriate to the enterprise's scale, food categories, risk levels, management level, and safety status, and clarify the job responsibilities of the enterprise's main persons in charge, food safety directors, and food safety officers.

　　The main person in charge of a food production and operation enterprise is fully responsible for the enterprise's food safety work, establishes and implements a long-term mechanism for fulfilling the main responsibility for food safety, and promotes its effective operation. Food safety directors and food safety officers shall assist the main person in charge in food safety management according to their job responsibilities.

　　Article 4: The main person in charge of a food production and operation enterprise shall support and guarantee that food safety directors and food safety officers carry out food safety management work according to law, and before making major decisions involving food safety, shall fully listen to the opinions and suggestions of food safety directors and food safety officers.

　　Article 5: Food safety directors and food safety officers who discover potential risks of food safety incidents shall propose veto suggestions such as stopping related food production and operation activities. The main person in charge of the food production and operation enterprise or the food safety director shall immediately analyze and judge and take disposal measures to eliminate risks and hidden dangers. If there is a potential risk of a food safety incident, the food production and operation enterprise shall immediately stop food production and operation activities and report to the county-level market supervision and administration department where it is located.

　　Article 6: Food production and operation enterprises shall legally appoint food safety officers. The following food production and operation enterprises shall also appoint food safety directors:

　　(1) Special food production enterprises;

　　(2) Large and medium-sized food production enterprises;

　　(3) Large and medium-sized food sales enterprises;

　　(4) Large and medium-sized catering service enterprises (including central kitchens and collective meal delivery units serving more than 1,000 people);

　　(5) Headquarters of chain food sales and chain catering service enterprises.

　　Local market supervision and administration departments at or above the county level shall, based on actual conditions, guide food production and operation enterprises within their jurisdiction that meet the conditions to appoint food safety directors.

　　Article 7: Food safety directors and food safety officers shall possess the following food safety management capabilities:

　　(1) Master the relevant food safety laws and regulations and food safety standards;

　　(2) Possess professional knowledge to identify and prevent corresponding food safety risks;

　　(3) Be familiar with the food safety-related facilities, equipment, processes, operating procedures, and other production and operation process control requirements of their enterprise;

　　(4) Participate in food safety management personnel training and pass assessments;

　　(5) Other necessary food safety management capabilities.

　　The food safety director should be a member of the management team of the food production and operation enterprise.

　　Article 8: Food producers and operators whose licenses have been revoked due to food safety violations shall have their legal representatives, directly responsible supervisors, and other directly responsible personnel prohibited from serving as food safety directors or food safety officers in food production and operation enterprises for five years from the date of the penalty decision.

　　Persons sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment or above for food safety crimes shall be permanently prohibited from serving as food safety directors or food safety officers in food production and operation enterprises.

　　Article 9: The food safety director shall be directly responsible to the main person in charge of the enterprise according to their duties, assist the main person in charge in food safety management, and undertake the following responsibilities:

　　(1) Organize the formulation of food safety management systems, supervise the implementation of food safety responsibility systems, clarify responsibilities regarding employee health management, supplier management, incoming goods inspection, production and operation process control, factory inspection, traceability system construction, complaint and report handling, and other food safety aspects;

　　(2) Organize the formulation and supervise the implementation of food safety risk prevention and control measures, regularly organize food safety self-inspections, assess food safety status, promptly report food safety work to the main person in charge of the enterprise and propose improvement measures, prevent and correct food safety violations, and organize food recalls according to regulations;

　　(3) Organize the formulation of food safety accident response plans, conduct emergency drills, fulfill food safety accident reporting obligations, and take measures to prevent accident escalation;

　　(4) Be responsible for managing, supervising, and guiding food safety officers to perform their duties properly, and organize food safety education, training, and assessment for employees;

　　(5) Accept and cooperate with supervisory and management departments in conducting food safety supervision and inspection work, provide truthful information, and organize rectification of identified issues;

　　(6) Other food safety management responsibilities.

　　Food production and operation enterprises shall, according to the preceding paragraph and combined with actual conditions, detail and formulate the "Responsibilities of the Food Safety Director."

　　For food production and operation enterprises that are not required to and have not appointed a food safety director according to these regulations, the responsibilities of the food safety director shall be performed by the main person in charge of the enterprise or a designated food safety officer.

　　Article 10: Food safety officers shall be responsible to the food safety director or the main person in charge of the enterprise according to their duties, engage in specific food safety management work, and undertake the following responsibilities:

　　(1) Supervise the implementation of food production and operation process control requirements;

　　(2) Inspect the implementation of food safety management systems, manage and maintain records of food safety production and operation processes, and preserve relevant materials as required;

　　(3) For food that does not meet food safety standards or food that is evidenced to potentially harm human health, as well as identified food safety risks and hazards, promptly take effective corrective measures and report;

　　(4) Record and manage the health and hygiene status of employees;

　　(5) Cooperate with relevant departments in investigating and handling food safety incidents;

　　(6) Other food safety management responsibilities.

　　Food production and operation enterprises shall, according to the preceding paragraph and combined with actual conditions, detail and formulate the "Code of Conduct for Food Safety Officers."

　　Article 11: Food production and operation enterprises shall establish a dynamic management mechanism based on food safety risk prevention and control, combined with actual conditions, implement self-inspection requirements, formulate a "Food Safety Risk Control List," and establish and improve daily control, weekly inspection, and monthly scheduling work systems and mechanisms.

　　Food production and operation enterprises may organically integrate the daily control, weekly inspection, and monthly scheduling work systems and mechanisms with already established work systems and mechanisms for implementation.

　　Article 12: Food production and operation enterprises shall establish a daily food safety control system. During production and operation, food safety officers shall conduct daily inspections based on the "Food Safety Risk Control List," form a "Daily Food Safety Inspection Record," and immediately take preventive measures for identified food safety risks and hazards, reporting to the food safety director or main person in charge according to procedures. If no issues are found, this shall also be recorded, implementing zero-risk reporting.

　　Article 13: Food production and operation enterprises shall establish a weekly food safety inspection system. During production and operation, the food safety director or food safety officer shall organize at least one risk hazard inspection per week, analyze and assess food safety management status, study and resolve issues found in daily control, and form a "Weekly Food Safety Inspection and Management Report."

　　Article 14: Food production and operation enterprises shall establish a monthly food safety scheduling system. During production and operation, the main person in charge shall listen to at least one report on the food safety director's management work each month, summarize the daily management, risk hazard inspection, and management of food safety for the month, arrange key tasks for the next month, and form a "Monthly Food Safety Scheduling Meeting Minutes."

　　Article 15: Food production and operation enterprises shall record and archive for inspection the staffing and adjustment of the main person in charge, food safety director, food safety officers, the "Food Safety Risk Control List," "Responsibilities of the Food Safety Director," "Code of Conduct for Food Safety Officers," "Daily Food Safety Inspection Records," "Weekly Food Safety Inspection and Management Reports," "Monthly Food Safety Scheduling Meeting Minutes," as well as opinions, suggestions, and reports submitted by the food safety director and food safety officers regarding their duties.

　　Article 16: Market supervision and management departments shall focus their supervision and inspection on whether food production and operation enterprises have established and implemented food safety responsibility systems and other management systems, the food safety risks and hazards found during daily control, weekly inspection, and monthly scheduling, and the rectification status.

　　Article 17: Food production and operation enterprises shall organize food safety knowledge training for their employees, provide legal, regulatory, standard, and professional knowledge training and assessment for food safety directors and food safety officers, and record and archive the training and assessment results. Food safety directors and food safety officers shall participate in no less than 40 hours of training annually.

　　Local market supervision and management departments at or above the county level shall organize random supervision and assessment of the main persons in charge, food safety directors, food safety officers, and other food safety management personnel of food production and operation enterprises within their jurisdiction according to the guidelines, assessment outlines, and exam question banks formulated by the State Administration for Market Regulation, and publish the assessment results. The methods and content of supervision and assessment shall be appropriate to the type of food production and operation enterprise, personnel category, types of food produced or operated (places), and positions (links), and no fees shall be charged.

　　If the random inspection and assessment are unqualified and no longer meet food production and operation requirements, the food production and operation enterprise shall immediately take corrective measures.

　　Article 18: Food production and operation enterprises shall provide necessary working conditions, education and training, and job benefits for food safety directors and food safety officers to fully ensure their lawful performance of duties.

　　Food production and operation enterprises are encouraged to establish incentive mechanisms for food safety directors and food safety officers, and commend and reward those with significant work achievements.

　　Article 19: Food production and operation enterprises that fail to establish food safety management systems as required, or fail to equip, train, and assess food safety directors, food safety officers, and other food safety management personnel as required, or fail to implement food safety responsibilities according to the responsibility system, shall be ordered to make corrections by the local market supervision and administration department at or above the county level in accordance with the provisions of Article 126, Paragraph 1 of the Food Safety Law, and be given a warning; those who refuse to make corrections shall be fined not less than 5,000 yuan and not more than 50,000 yuan; if the circumstances are serious, they shall be ordered to suspend production and business operations, up to revocation of the license.

　　Article 20: Food production and operation enterprises that have illegal acts stipulated by the Food Safety Law, in addition to being punished according to the provisions of the Food Safety Law, if any of the following circumstances occur, the legal representative, main responsible person, food safety director, food safety officer, and other directly responsible supervisors and directly responsible personnel of the enterprise shall be fined not less than one time and not more than ten times the income obtained from the unit in the previous year:

　　(1) Intentional illegal acts;

　　(2) The nature of the illegal act is serious;

　　(3) The illegal act causes serious consequences.

　　If the food production and operation enterprise and its main responsible person fail to adopt the veto suggestions proposed by the food safety director or food safety officer in accordance with Article 5 of these regulations without justifiable reasons, or if the food safety director fails to adopt the veto suggestions proposed by the food safety officer in accordance with Article 5 of these regulations without justifiable reasons, it shall be regarded as intentional illegal acts as stipulated in the preceding paragraph. Food safety directors and food safety officers who have performed their duties in accordance with the law shall not be punished.

　　Article 21: The meanings of the following terms under these regulations are:

　　The main responsible person of a food production and operation enterprise refers to the main decision-maker in the enterprise's production and operation activities, including the legal representative, person in charge, actual controller, etc., who actually bear overall leadership responsibility.

　　Directly responsible supervisors refer to personnel who bear direct management responsibility in illegal acts, including food safety directors, etc.

　　Other directly responsible personnel refer to personnel who specifically implement illegal acts and play a significant role, which can be production and operation management personnel of the unit or employees of the unit, including food safety officers, etc.

　　Food safety director refers to the food safety management personnel legally equipped by the food production and operation enterprise in the management level who undertake the responsibilities stipulated in Article 9 of these regulations.

　　Food safety officer refers to the food safety management personnel legally equipped by the food production and operation enterprise who undertake the responsibilities stipulated in Article 10 of these regulations.

　　Article 22: Non-food production and operation entities engaged in food storage businesses with special requirements for temperature, humidity, etc., as well as third-party online food trading platforms, large food warehousing enterprises, food centralized trading market operators, and food exhibition and sales event organizers shall implement these regulations by reference.

　　The market supervision and administration departments of provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the central government shall formulate other management measures for food production and operation entities to fulfill the main responsibility for food safety with reference to these regulations according to the actual situation of their regions.

　　Article 23: The provisions for centralized dining units to fulfill the main responsibility for food safety shall be formulated separately.

　　Article 24: These regulations shall come into force on November 1, 2022.