Philippine National Standard for Live Mud Crabs: establishing food safety and quality requirements

Abstract

The Bureau of Agriculture and Fisheries Standards (BAFS) of the Department of Agriculture (DA), in collaboration with the relevant government and research agencies, academe and industry organization, is currently developing the Philippine National Standard (PNS) for live mangrove crabs (also known as mud crabs). This PNS defines the food safety and quality requirements for live mangrove crabs in order to ensure consumers’ health and make the product globally competitive. The process in the development of standards include review of the existing requirements of local and foreign markets and internationally recognized standards, creation of the Technical Working Group, initial drafting of the PNS, conduct of public consultations in major production areas, finalization of the draft for the PNS, notification to the World Trade Organization and approval of the DA Secretary. The PNS for live mangrove crabs specifies the scope of the standard, product description, essential composition and quality factors, hygiene, handling, labeling requirements, methods of sampling, examination and analysis, definition of defectives, and the requirements for product lot acceptance.