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Pre-sale Tests of Aquatic products

  1. Registered farms must notify the AFCD no less than 14 days and no more than 30 days before harvest or sale of registered aquatic products. Otherwise, the AFCD cannot conduct tests on aquatic products and such products cannot be sold under the AFFS brand. The harvest of the hairy crabs must be arranged in accordance with sections 17-26 of Enclosure 1 of the Manual. The AFCD will collect samples from farms for final testing. The sampling indicators are as follows:
    2. Fish Shrimp Crab Shellfish
    1 20 5 3 kg
  2. The actual sampling quantity must meet the sample size requirements of the laboratory tests. Only qualified aquatic products can be sold under the AFFS brand.
  3. Farms must also submit a complete medication record for the entire rearing period during sampling. Drugs and feed additives listed in section 3.2.2 of the Manual cannot be applied after the sampling for final testing except with the consent of the AFCD.
  4. To be qualified, aquatic product samples must pass the various quality tests of the AFFS, the standards of which can be referred to in Enclosure 4 of the Manual. The amount of drug residues must not exceed relevant European Union standard EEC No. 2377/90 and its amendments, and the content of malachite green and heavy metals must comply with the standards set out in the Harmful Substances in Food Regulations (Cap. 132AF) and Food Adulteration (Metallic Contamination) Regulations (Cap. 132V) of Laws of Hong Kong. Freshwater fish products must also pass the tests for muddy smell. If aquatic products are found to exceed the above-mentioned standards, the AFCD staff will inform the farms of the postponement of the date of sale and carry out re-sampling and re-testing. Aquatic products can only be sold when all test results meet the standard requirements. In addition to the required food safety standard tests listed in the AFFS Aquaculture Manual, food safety standard tests on hairy crabs must also be executed in accordance with the additional requirements in Enclosure 1 of the Manual.
  5. The AFCD staff will collect aquaculture water samples from farms for bacterial testing no less than 14 days and no more than 30 days before the sale of the products. The E. coli levels in seawater samples must be less than 610 CFU per 100 mL and free of pathogenic V. cholerae types O1 and O139. As for pond water samples, the E. coli levels must not exceed 1,000 CFU per 100 mL and must be free of pathogenic V. cholerae types O1 and O139.
  6. The AFCD will increase the test items and adjust the accepted quality level according to risk assessment results and the actual situation.
  7. The AFCD reserves the right to request the re-sampling and postponement of the date of sale based on laboratory test results and the drugs and feed additives used after sampling. If food safety problems in samples are found to be irreversible within a short period of time, farms are required to destroy the same batch of aquatic products.
  8. After confirming that aquatic products are qualified under the AFFS certification requirements, the AFCD will issue a certificate of compliance for aquatic products. The products can then be sold with the traceable AFFS QR code label for identification within the validity period of the certificate. The certificate of compliance of non-frozen aquatic products is valid for 60 days, while frozen aquatic products must complete the freezing process within the validity period of the certificate.
  9. The AFCD reserves the right to distribute information to the Fish Marketing Organization on qualified aquatic products entitled to be marketed under the AFFS brand and their source farms.
  10. For the flow from fry registration to the sale of aquatic products, please refer to Enclosure 3 of the Manual.