Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is a statutory body established under the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India. The FSSAI has been established under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, which is a consolidating statute related to food safety and regulation in India. FSSAI is responsible for protecting and promoting public health through the regulation and supervision of food safety.
FSSAI was established by Former Union Minister Dr. Anbumani Ramadoss, Government of India on 5 August 2011 under Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 which was operationalized in year 2006. The FSSAI consists of a chairperson & 22 members.
The FSSAI is responsible for setting standards for food so that there is one body to deal with and no confusion in the minds of consumers, traders, manufacturers, and investors.
The FSS Act is a summed up version for all the older laws, rules and regulations for food safety. They are:-
FSSAI is located in 5 regions
Standards framed by FSSAI are prescribed under Food Safety and Standards (Food Product Standards and Food Additives) Regulation, 2011, Food Safety and Standards (Packaging and Labelling) Regulation, 2011 and Food Safety and Standards (Contaminants, Toxins, and Residues) Regulations, 2011.
The FSSAI has prescribed standards for the following:
Step 1 – Check the eligibility of the food business and fill the FSSAI licensing registration Form A on FSSAI website and make the payment for FSSAI application at the FBO which is nearby your locality.
Step 2 – Once the payment confirmation is reflected in your FSSAI account, you need to file Form B with the government. There are multiple declarations and resolutions that need to be filed with your application. E.g., board resolution, owner self-declaration. These declarations should ideally be prepared by a company secretary.
Step 3 – The government may send back your application for edits – if you fail to respond with 15 days of the application, then your application will be rejected.
The government department will take 45-60 working days to completely review your application and approve the same.
FSSAI License validity stretches out from 1 to 5 years. According to the FSSAI rules, the FBO is required to appeal for the renewal of the license in 30 days and it should be made before its expiry. Any FSSAI renewal application filed exceeding the expiry date is required to pay a late fee of Rs. 100.
Note: Food Business Operator (FBO) has to login in FLRS to apply for Renewal, Modification, Duplicate License /Registration Certificate. Kindly check the supporting documents list and fee structure for Renewal / Modification / Duplicate License /Registration Certificate. FBO can Surrender / transfer (only in case of death of License/Registration certificate holder) the License /Registration certificate without any fee.
Responsibility of ensuring compliance of FSS Act, 2006 rules and regulations made thereunder by the FBO’s. Enforcement is undertaken on the basis of surveillance, monitoring, inspection and random sampling of food products carried out by the Officials of Food Safety Departments.
Food Safety and Standards Authority of India and State Food Authorities are jointly responsible for implementation & enforcement of FSSA, 2006. The details are provided Section 29 of FSS Act, 2006. The details are available on FSSAI’s Official website:http://www.fssai.gov.in/home/compliance/compliance-orders.html
The FSO shall be liable to a penalty which may extend up to Rs. 1 lakh rupee if he / she is found to be guilty of an offence mentioned under section 39 of the Act. Provided that in case the complaint made against the Food Safety Officer is false, the complainant shall be punishable with fine which shall not be less than Rs. 50,000 and may extend to Rs. 1 lakh.
If the food business operator fails to comply with an improvement notice, his licence may be suspended.
If the food business operator fails to comply with the improvement notice, the DO may, after giving the licensee an opportunity to show cause, cancel the licence.
Yes, any FBO aggrieved by an improvement notice may appeal to the State Commissioner of Food Safety whose decision thereon shall be final. The same can be challenged in the Food safety Appellate Tribunal/ high court of his respective States/UT
Fifteen days from the date on which notice of the decision was served on the person desiring to appeal or the period specified in the improvement notice whichever expires earlier.
Food Business Operator operating in more than two States has to get Central License for its registered Office/ Head Office and separate license/ Registration for each units depending upon the capacity/ turnover from the concerned State/ Central Licensing Authority.
1. Complaint related violation of the provisions of Act and Regulation. 2. Food Adulteration. 3. Food poisoning 4. Food contaminations 5. Misleading labeling and packaging 6. Misleading Advertisements 7. Licensing and registration related grievances. 8. Counterfeit products
Consumers can connect to FSSAI through various channels. Consumers can register their complaints and feedbacks about food safety issues related to adulterated food, unsafe food, substandard food, labelling defects in food and misleading claims & advertisements related to various food products.
