(Refer to: Food safety in pickles production and warning to unlicensed factories)
- Grant a one month ultimatum for unlicensed factories to file their registration papers
- Compile data on required standards by Ministry of Industry
- Conduct inspections of factories to be carried out jointly by Ministries of industry, Agriculture and Health
- Set up a follow-up committee comprising representatives of Ministry of Industry and owners of industrial institutions to prepare regular reports on barrels used in packaging
- Agreement between pickles producers and manufacturers of packaging containers on reasonable prices and the required quantities and in accordance with agreed quality standards
- After inspection, barrel containers that do not comply with standards of packaging will be destroyed together with their contents; inspection to be conducted on regular basis
- Ban the use of recycled containers
- Draft the right decisions for serial process from the factory to the consumer
- Communicate to industrialists the ISO mark NL282:2015 identifying safety requirements of plastic material for packaging food products and ensure compliance with these requirements as soon as they are published
- Authorise the exposure of pickles filled barrel containers to the sun provided they are non-white in color
- Disseminate a study prepared by USAID on health requirements for the production of pickles
- Pull out “Food Grade” containers used for packaging of pickles five years after its manufacturing
- Prepare the Institute for Industrial Research to conduct free laboratory tests on containers as mandated by the Ministry of Industry
- Provide the Ministry of Industry with the list of licensed and unlicensed factories compiled by health inspectors
- Comply with Lebanese standard qualifications No. NL2111 for pickles, all other standards regulating food additives, and the parameters for using insecticides
- Observe mandatory health standards in manufacturing
(Al Diyar, 7 April 2015)