The Ministry of Health (MINSAL in Spanish) has issued Decree No 8, which amends Articles 318 and 323 of the Food Sanitary Regulation. The Decree will come into effect 12 months after its publication in the Official Gazette. The main modifications are as follows:

1) Article 318 is replaced by the following:

Article 318. Fresh fish that is not eviscerated immediately after capture may only be marketed if it has been immediately subjected to freezing at a maximum temperature of minus 18° Celsius, measured at its thermal center, for a sufficient time to kill any parasites that may be present. The sufficiency of the treatment will be evaluated and validated by the company that performs it thru tests that subject the product to freezing treatments, measured at the thermal center, and exposure time to those temperatures that demonstrate they are capable of killing the parasites. The company must keep records of these evaluations and the treatments applied, which must be made available to the health authority if requested.

2) Article 323 is replaced by the following:

“Article 323.” Fresh and frozen fish intended for human consumption must be kept refrigerated or frozen according to their condition, in accordance with the provisions of articles 314 and 315 of this regulation. Fish intended for human consumption must be free of live parasites and their cysts. Although the parasites and their cysts have been inactivated by freezing treatments, the fish must not contain two or more parasites per kg of sample unit with a cyst larger than 3 mm in diameter or an unencapsulated parasite larger than 10 mm in length.