Nghe An: 'Roll call' of 15 drinking water production facilities violating quality and industrial property

The Department of Science and Technology has just issued inspection conclusions on standards, measurement, quality and industrial property for 26 establishments (15 individuals, 11 organizations) producing bottled drinking water in the area: Vinh city, Nghi Loc, Dien Chau, Yen Thanh, Thanh Chuong, Anh Son districts.

The conclusion is based on the inspection results report of the inspection team of the Department of Science and Technology according to Decision No. 102/QD-SKHCN-TTra dated April 8, 2019.

Accordingly, regarding the implementation of the announcement of applied standards and declaration of conformity, at the time of inspection, 21/26 establishments had carried out the procedure of self-declaring product quality, 5/26 establishments were using the Certificate of Acceptance of Declaration of Conformity issued by the Department of Food Safety and Hygiene which is still valid.

Workers do not wear protective clothing during production. Photo: Manh Ha

Regarding labeling, 26/26 establishments fully label according to the provisions of Decree No. 43/2017/ND-CP dated April 14, 2017 of the Government on product labeling.

Regarding industrial property, there are 3 establishments that have violated the law on industrial property: Incorrect indications about the legal status and scope of protection of industrial property rights; specifically: producing bottled drinking water on the label using the symbol ® (indicating that the trademark has been granted a Certificate of Trademark Registration) but in reality, the Department of Intellectual Property has not granted a certificate of protection.

In particular, regarding quality, the delegation collected 26 samples of bottled drinking water to test the quality according to the National Technical Regulation for natural mineral water and bottled drinking water QCVN 6-1:2010/BYT issued with Circular No. 34/2010/TT-BYT dated June 2, 2010 of the Minister of Health.

The bottling room is not hygienic and is not separated from other areas. Photo: Manh Ha

All of the above samples were sent for testing at the National Institute for Food Safety Control. As a result, 13/26 bottled water samples failed to meet quality standards. The unqualified indicators were microbiological indicators such as: E.coli, Coliform, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and sulfite-reducing anaerobic bacterial spores.

According to Mr. Nguyen Manh Ha - Chief Inspector of the Department of Science and Technology, Head of the inspection team, 13/26 facilities sampled in this inspection violated quality (accounting for 50%), which is an alarming number.

List of 15 bottled water production facilities violating quality and industrial property. Photo: PB

“All the samples that violated the microbiological standards, not the chemical standards. The 13 types of water that were sampled and found to be of poor quality were all stored in large bottles (reusable bottles). Thereby, there is a basis to confirm that the cause of the violation comes from the bottling and bottling process that does not ensure hygiene according to regulations,” said Mr. Ha.

According to the inspection team, through observation, some facilities have product bottling areas that are not clean and separate, reusable containers are not thoroughly washed before bottling, there is no area to change protective clothing, workers do not wear protective clothing during the production process...

The process of rinsing the bottle is still sketchy and unhygienic. Photo: Manh Ha

In addition, forced recall and destruction of batches of bottled water products that violate quality standards; forced removal of violating elements on bottled water product labels of 3 establishments that violate industrial property rights.