Food Safety Certificates for Cafes: Issuance Procedures

Food safety certificates for cafes is a mandatory requirement for food businesses in Vietnam. Owning this certificate helps ensure that your cafe fully complies with food hygiene and safety regulations, thereby enhancing reputation and protecting consumer health. This article will detail the procedures for granting food safety certificates for cafes, along with important conditions and notes when implementing.

Conditions for granting food safety certificates for cafes

To be granted a food safety certificate, a cafe needs to meet the following conditions:

• Have registered a food business in the Business Registration Certificate.
• Location and space: The facility needs to have a reasonable location, area and safe distance from toxic and polluting sources.
• Standardized water: Provide enough water that meets technical standards for food production and business.
• Adequate equipment: Ensure there is enough equipment to handle ingredients, process, package, preserve and transport food, along with washing, sterilization and insect prevention tools.
• Waste treatment system: There is a waste treatment system that operates regularly, ensuring environmental protection.
• Record keeping: Maintain complete records on the source and origin of raw materials and the production and business process.
• Employee requirements: Employees must comply with regulations on health, knowledge and food hygiene and safety practices.

CSPL: Article 19 and 34 of the Law on Food Safety 2010.

Procedures for issuing food safety certificates for cafes

Registration documents

Documents to register for a food safety certificate are specified in Article 36 of the Law on Food Safety 2010 as follows:

• Application for issuance of Certificate of establishment meeting food safety conditions according to sample
• Copy of the establishment’s Business Registration Certificate.
• Explanation of facilities, equipment, and tools to ensure food hygiene and safety, at the request of the competent state management agency.
• Certificate of good health of the facility owner and person directly producing and trading food, issued by a district-level medical facility or higher.
• Certificate of participation in training on food safety and hygiene for facility owners and people directly producing and trading food, according to regulations of the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

Implementation process

Step 1: Submit application for re-issuance of Certificate

• Subjects applying for re-issue of Food Safety Certificate submit documents to the competent state agency (Ministry of Health).
• The Ministry of Health will specifically regulate the authority to grant and revoke Certificates of establishments meeting food safety conditions within the scope of the Ministry’s management.

Step 2: Process documents

• The competent authority receives the application and conducts an actual inspection of food hygiene and safety conditions at the facility.
• If the facility fully meets the requirements, the Certificate will be reissued.

Step 3: Licensing

• Within 15 days from receipt of the application, the competent authority will conduct an actual inspection and make a decision to re-issue the Food Safety Certificate.
• If the facility does not meet the conditions, the agency will notify the reason for refusing to re-issue the Certificate.

Notes when issuing food safety certificates

When issuing food safety certificates, the following issues should be kept in mind:

• Full legal documents: The establishment needs to prepare complete legal documents such as business license, certification of food hygiene and safety conditions according to the provisions of law.
• Standard facilities and equipment: Food processing facilities need to ensure that facilities and equipment always meet hygiene standards, ensuring safety throughout the processing and production process.
• Raw materials have clear origins: Raw materials used in the production process must have clear origins, ensuring quality and food safety and hygiene.
• Standard processing process: It is necessary to establish a reasonable food processing process, ensuring it does not affect the quality and hygiene of the product.
• Labor hygiene: All food processing employees need to be certified in food hygiene and safety and comply with labor hygiene regulations.

Food safety certification support service

To make the food safety certification process quick and effective, customers can use support services from professional units. Our services include:

• Consulting on regulations and conditions for granting food safety certificates;
• Support customers in drafting and preparing licensing documents according to regulations;
• Representing customers to submit applications to competent licensing agencies;
• Support for remediation in cases of invalid records.
• Support for certificate renewal when the license is about to expire or after it expires.

Food safety certificates are an important factor to help cafes operate legally and protect consumers’ health. Customers need to clearly understand the procedures and prepare complete documents to avoid errors during the certification process. If you need support or advice on food safety certification procedures, please contact us immediately via the hotline 0906735386 for quick and effective support.