Food Safety Standard Act2006

8/6/2019 Food Safety Standard Act2006

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The effectiveImplementation of the

Food Safety and Standards

Act-2006 a real challenge

for the Govt. of India

By

Alok Dangwal

CEO, Chaukhamba

[email protected]

New Delhi

India

( www.chaukhamba.org)
mailto:[email protected]://www.chaukhamba.org/mailto:[email protected]://www.chaukhamba.org/


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Preface

The Food Safety and Standards Bill 2005 was recently signed into law by the

President of India. The original Bill was piloted and introduced in Lok Sabhaby the Ministry of Food Processing Industry during the monsoon session in

year 2005. The speaker of Lok Sabha referred the Bill to the Parliamentary

Standing Committee on Agriculture for its report and deliberation, the Standing

Committee submitted its report in Lok Sabha on February 2006. The

Parliament passed the Bill in the Monsoon Session of 2006 and the Bill became

an Act after Presidential assent to it on August 23, 2006. As the Food safety

and Standards Act 2006 remains mum on its implementation so it has not been

decided till this paper is written that who will govern the new Act. Recently the

Prime Ministers Office has appointed the Ministry of Health as the nodal

Ministry for implementing the Act. The PMO was under pressure as theMashelker Committee and the Parliamentary Standing Committee both

recommended for the Ministry of Health as the nodal Ministry for its

implementation. Once the Act is notified by the nodal agency, the Ministry of

Health will have to issue official notifications regarding the new rule so that all

those manufacturers who are currently manufacturing these products under

food licenses under the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, will be able to

apply for fresh licenses under the new rule while the companies are not

required to revoke their current license under the Act.

The Act envisages formation of the Food Safety and Standards Authority ofIndia which will be an apex body responsible for laying down the new rules

and regulations for Food sector. As per our internal sources the Authority

would come into force by the end of the year 2007. The Act no doubt ensures

better consumer health and safety but its effective implementation would be a

Herculean task for the central ministry as the existing machinery lacks in

quality manpower and infrastructures.


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Executive Summery

Background

In India at present there are seventeen different Acts and Rules under Centre

and State Governments which are dealing wholly or partially with Food as a

subject and are responsible for Standards and Regulations settings and

enforcement. Multiplicity of these food laws and standard setting and

enforcement agencies pervades different sectors of food have created confusion

in the minds of traders, investors and manufacturers. Provisions regarding

admissibility and levels of food additives and contaminants, food colours,

preservatives etc. and the requirements of labeling have varied standards under

these laws. Industry finds these standards often rigid and non-responsive toscientific advancements and enforced by multiplicity of inspectors under

various laws. Due to all these various reasons a need was felt for integration of

all such laws for giving a boost to the food processing industries and regulating

the quality of food. The matter regarding consolidation of the food laws was

considered by the Government on various occasions. The Committees which

recommended for a unifying and comprehensive legislation on food were:-

(i) Prime Ministers Council on Trade and Industry in 1998;

(ii) Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on Pesticides residues in 2004

(iii) Parliamentary Standing Committee on Agriculture in their report onDemands for Grants of the Ministry of Food Processing Industries in 2005

(12th Report, 14th Lok Sabha)

(iv) The Law Commission recommended interalia that the Prevention of Food

Adulteration Act, 1954 be repealed and orders under the Essential

Commodities Act, 1955 be subsumed within the proposed Integrated Food Law

with certain modifications.

On the recommendation of the PMs Council on Trade and Industry the

Government of India decide to formulate an Integrated Food Law (IFL) the

task of drafting the IFL was given the Ministry of Food Processing

Industries(MFPI) in the year 2001. The Government of India also constituted a

Group of Ministers(GOM) to propose legislative and other changes considered

necessary for finalizing the proposed Integrated Food Law. On the advice of

GOM the Draft Food safety and Standards Bill 2005 was first time made public

by the MFPI. The Cabinet at its meeting held on 04.08.2005 considered the


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proposal to enact Food Safety and Standards Bill, 2005 and approved the

same. Accordingly the Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha on 25.08.2005.

The Honble Speaker of Lok Sabha referred the Bill to the departmentally

related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Agriculture on august 30, 2005.

The Standing Committee submitted its report in the Parliament on February 21,

2006 and proposed 52 Amendments in the original Bill. Lok Sabha discussed

the Bill and passed the Bill with 46 Amendments made recommended by the

Standing Committee on July 26, 2006. The Honble President of India put his

signature on the Bill on August 23, 2006 and made it an Act after the Bill was

passed by both the Houses of Parliament on August 23, 2006.

Out of the 17 different laws dealing with Food the following 8 laws will

stand repeal the day when the Act is Notified by the Nodal Ministry in the

official Gazette of India, there are,

1. The Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954 (37 of 1954).

2. The Fruit Products Order, 1955.

3. The Meat Food Products Order, 1973.

4. The Vegetable Oil Products (control) Order, 1947.

5. The Edible Oils Packaging (Regulation) Order, 1998.

6. The Solvent Extracted Oil, De oiled Meal, and Edible Flour (Control) Order,

1967.

7. The Milk and Milk Products Order, 1992.

8. Any other order issued under the Essential Commodities Act, 1955 (10 of

1955) relating to food.

The Food Safety and Standards Act 2006 ( FSS Act-2006) has 12 chapters

containing 101 clauses briefly and 2 Schedules.

The Prime Ministers Council on trade and industry appointed a group in 1998,

which had recommended one comprehensive law in India on food safety and

standards to protect the rights of the consumers especially the poor and the

disadvantaged and the FSS Act-2006 is the outcome of that recommendation.

The Ministry of Food Processing Industries, which primarily appears mandated

to develop and promote food-processing industries in the country, was assigned

to formulate the Draft Bill. Ministry of Health, which is the custodian of healthof citizens and has been overseeing food safety, could have given the

responsibility of piloting the Bill. The consumers Organizations were surprised

to see the Ministry of Food Processing Industries preparing the draft legislation.


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The Prevention of Food Adulteration Act

The Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954 is presently the main food law

which is under the Concurrent list of the constitution of India. The

implementation of the PFA Act requires preferred expertise in medical,

toxicology, nutrition food related illness, microbiology and test labs etc., which

are concentrated in health, related institutions under State Govts. Over last

decades the District Chief Medical Officers have been functioning as Local

Health Authorities. The Central Ministry of Health oversees the

implementation of this law and has necessary expertise within its subordinate

institutions. The State Govt interacts through its Health Authorities within the

Central Health Ministry in Implementation of food safety law.

Key Features of the Act The Act establishes the Food Safety and Standards Authority (FSSA) to

regulate the food sector.

FSSA will be aided by several scientific panels and a central advisory

committee to lay down standards for food safety. These standards will

include specifications for ingredients, contaminants, pesticide residue,

biological hazards and labels.

State Commissioners of Food Safety and other local level officials will

enforce the law.

Every food business operator is required to have a license in order tooperate his food business from State Food commissioners or from

Designated Food Officers.

Petty manufacturers who make their own food, hawkers, vendors or

temporary stall holders do not require a license. Instead, they need to get

their businesses registered with the local municipality or Panchayat.

The provisions of this act will not apply on any farmer or fisherman or

farming operations or crops or livestock or aquaculture, and supplied

used or produced in farming or products of crops produced by a farmer

at farm level or a fisherman in his operations.

It has been observed that the implementing authorities under the Act willbe of Central Government only, there has not been any provision under

the Act to create infrastructure or utilize existing infrastructure of the

States / UT Governments.

The Act has stressed more on fine/punishment than on protecting the

common man/ farmers/consumers/fisherman etc. Penalty clauses in


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general do not specify a minimum fine or a minimum imprisonment till

rising of the court, etc

Issues of Concerns

There are several sections in the Food Safety and Standards Act 2006, which

are bound to adversely affect consumers. For instance,

The prevention of Food Adulteration Act-1954 provides Standards for

consumer safety, quality parameters for industry and regulates imports of

food. The Rules framed under the Act have laid down the definition and

standards of quality of approximately 265 articles of food. In addition

the Rules specify sampling procedures, packing and labeling of food.

Repeal of PFA act would entail repeal of the Rules framed there under

and thus lead to a vacuum in Food Standards and safety of consumers in

the country.

The procedure for improvement notices provided under the Sec 32

(Improvement Notices) of the Act gives companies time to fix things and

weakens their liability

Sec 66(1) enables officials of big companies to escape liability by

proving that any offence under the Act was committed without their

knowledge or that they had exercised due diligence to prevent it.

The penalties provided under the Act are capped at Rs 10 lakh, which

will barely make a dent in the finances of companies who have a

turnover in crores. The Act provides for a food recall procedure under Sec 28, which

mandates a food business operator to recall a food item if it is

manufactured in contravention of any provision of the Act. However

there is no requirement that the food business operator inform consumers

about a product recall, especially if some of the products have already

been sold. Nor is there any cognizance of junk or fatty food, ignoring the

fact that obesity has emerged as a major problem in India in recent years.

This Act differentiates between contaminants, which renders food unsafe

and extraneous matter. Extraneous matter, it defines, will not render

food unsafe.

The Act also excludes plants prior to harvesting feed from its purview.

Any harmful input such as pesticides in vegetables that could affect the

safety standards of food products is not effectively covered.

The FSSA tends to veer towards standardization of food standards.

Section 3 (j) of the Act treats all types of food as the same. Natural

organically processed food is not the same as chemically processed food,


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which is different from genetically engineered food. Different foods

have different safety risks and need different safety laws and different

systems of management.

Section 16 (m) states that the Food Authority will take into account

International Standards. Under Indias diverse decentralized plural

economy, a centralized integrated law is inappropriate on many counts.

Indigenous Gur and Mithai have no international standards, they need

indigenous standards.

In view of the same laws like the FSSA are bound to loose their efficacy,

as they may be inappropriate to the level and content, which they

address. One law for all food systems is a law that privileges large-scale

industrial commercial establishments and discriminates and criminalizes

the small, the local, and the diverse.

In essence, the bill creates a third category in India for Dietary

Supplements Nutraceuticals / Functional Foods / Foods for specialdietary application.

In the absence of fully equipped laboratories with adequate trained staff,

it is not possible to implement the Act effectively.

Recommendations and Conclusion

We have been following the newly formed Act from its beginning; now we

strongly believe that the Food Safety and Standards Authority will formulatethe Regulations and Standards in such a way that will take care of Consumers

Food safety issues. Some of the major issues that needs to be addressed during

the further course of actions are,

We should have transparent compliance norms for the implementation of

the Act wherein the role of State Governments and local bodies should

be clearly defined

There should be at least one food laboratory meeting NABL

accreditation norms in each district for testing of food samples.

All the regulations and standards should be laid down science based only

The staff engaged in the implementation should be trained, experienced

and showing full accountability to their service.

While the government has enacted the Food safety and Standards Act-2006, no

assessment has been made about the technical and upgraded manpower

required to meet and monitor the intended objectives. Therefore the Act could


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turn out to be stillborn at the initial stage itself. While the new integrated food

law promises availability of safe food, its effective implementation will remain

the key issue for the Food safety and Standards Authority of India. Also in the

absence of consultation with State Govts it has not been clarified as to under

which entry in the central list this Act has been proposed and how the existing

infrastructure with the State / UT Governments and Local Bodies will be

utilized.


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Introduction

The FSS Bill 2005 now has become the Food Safety and Standards Act-2006.There are 12 chapters containing 101 clauses briefly and 2 Schedules in the

original Act. The apex authority under this is the Food Safety and Standards

Authority of India which under section16 (2) of the Act have the power to

specify Rules and Regulations for setting up of Standards for ensuring safe and

wholesome food for the consumers. The Food Authority shall, while framing

regulations or specifying standards under this Act willtake into account-

(i) Prevalent practices and conditions in the country including agricultural

practices and handling, storage and transport conditions; and

(ii) International standards and practices, where international standards

or practices exist or are in the process ~f being formulated, unless it is ofopinion that taking into account of such prevalent practices and conditions or

international standards or practices or any particular part thereof would

not be effective or appropriate means for securing the objectives of such

regulations or where there is a scientific justification or where they would result

in a different level of protection From the one determined as appropriate in the

country.

The biggest challenge for the FSSAI that we foresee is the enforcement of FSS

Act 2006. Under chapter VII though the Act deals with its enforcement but

does not tell anything about how the existing infrastructure and machinery willbe utilized for its implementation.

Out of the seventeen different laws dealing with Food as a subject the eight

laws mentioned in the chapter first stand repeal from the day when the Act is

notified by the Nodal Ministry in the official Gazette of India. Food Laws from

which sections relating to food are required to be deleted /modified on

commencement of this Act are

1. The Infant Milk Substitutes, Feeding Bottle and Infant Foods (Regulation

of Production, Supply and Distribution) Act, 1992.2. The Standards of Weights and Measure Act, 1976 (the packaged

Commodity Rules, 1977).

3. The Export (Quality Control and Inspection) Act, 1963.

4. The Environment Protection Act, 1986.

5. The Agriculture Produce (Grading and Marketing) Act, 1937.

6. The Customs Act, 1962.


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7. The Bureau of Indian Standards Act, 1986.8. The Foreign Trade (Development and Regulation) Act, 1992.

9. Other Acts/ Orders enacted or issued by the State Governments and

Union Territories.

In order to create a single window clearance for the foreign and domestic

investors and to promote food processing industries the Govt of India decided

to formulate an Integrated Food Law for reducing red tapism and bureaucratic

hassles. The Govt of India justifies enactment Integrated Food law as plethora

of laws on food and its operations were leading a lot of confusion in the minds

of consumers. The Consumer organizations believe that it was mainly due to

the pressure from Industry that the need of integration of all such laws was felt

for giving the boost to the food processing Industries.

The Ministry of Food Processing Industries was assigned the task of piloting

the Integrated Food Law; the first Draft Bill became public in the month of

January 05 and since then we have been following up the Bill till it became an

Act. The MFPI produced the Bill before the cabinet for its approval and the

Cabinet at its meeting held on 04.08.2005 considered the proposal to enact

Food Safety and Standards Bill, 2005 and approved the same. Accordingly

the bill was introduced the Lok Sabha on 25.08.2005 which was finally became

an Act after receiving Honble Presidents assent on it on August 23, 2006. The

Honble Speaker of Lok Sabha referred the Bill to the Standing Committee on

Agriculture for its report and deliberations. The Standing Committee on

Agriculture deliberated on the Bill during its meeting held on 21.9.05,14.10.05, 8.11.05 and on 13.12.2005.The Committee received the written views

/suggestions from various Institutions Organisations.

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Agriculture submitted its report on

the FSS Bill-2005, on 21.02.2006. The committee in its report had

recommended amendments in 26 clauses of the Bill and in 1 schedule. In total

the Standing Committee suggested 52 amendments in the Bill out of which 46

amendments were finally made in the FSS Bill 2005. The Lok Sabha accepted

all the recommendations of the committee on the Bill except the following 6

recommendations,

1. Include drinking water in the definition of Food.

2. The committee recommended inclusion of (i)3 eminent Food

Scientist (Instead of 1) as 1 food techno, 1 Nutritionist & 1

Microbiologist (ii) 2 farmer organizations (iii) 1 from retailers

organization.


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3. Selection Committee for selection of chairperson or members of

Food Authority in addition should contain MFPI secretary as

chairman instead of cabinet secretary also 2 MPS should be

member of the committee and secretary of Ministry of Agriculture

should be one member of the committee.

4. Inclusion of representative of Indian Standards Institute (BIS),

ICMR and Recognized farmer Organization in Central Advisory

Committee

5 For check in policing and Inspector Raj it recommended

Modifications/amendments in all the concerned clauses relating to

grant of License, enforcement of the Act, analysis of Food,

offences and penalties etc.

6 The Ministry of Health to be the nodal Ministry for administering

the Act.

The main objectives of the FSS Act are

1. Single reference point for all matters relating to Food Safety &

Standards, and regulations;

2. Lay food standards based on science, transparency and consultation;

3. Effectively regulate manufacture storage, distribution and sale of food to

ensure consumer safety and promote global trade.

4. Rationalize and strengthen existing enforcement mechanism.

5. Shift from mere regulatory regime to self-compliances through FoodSafety Management Systems.

Brief summery of some of the Acts being repealed by the Food

Safety and standards Act

The PFA Act of 1954

The objective of this law to protect the consumers against impure, unsafe, and

fraudulently labeled foods and is amended from time to time. PFA standards

and regulations apply equally to domestic and imported products. The PFAcovers various aspects of food formulation, food processing and distribution,

such as food standard, food color, preservatives, pesticide residues, packaging

and labeling, and regulation of sales. The law is enforced by the Director

General of Health Services, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare,

Government of India (GOI). The PFA focuses primarily on the establishment of

regulatory standards for primary food products, which constitute the bulk of the


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Indian diet. The PFA is not always able to keep pace with advances in the food

processing sector because of various social and administrative issues. PFA

rules sometimes appear to be drafted in a manner to establish minimum product

quality specifications, such as prescribing recipes for how food products should

to be manufactured. In case there are scientific reasons to amend the standards,

the concerned parties can appeal to have the PFA Rules amendments. Under

PFA, the Central Committee for Food Standards, chaired by the Director

General of Health Services, is the final decision making entity on PFA rules.

All imported products must adhere to the rules as specified in the regulation,

including the labeling and marking requirements.

Most of scientific institutions in the area of food, food safety and standards are

functioning under Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, which includes

1. Indian Council of Medical Research , New Delhi,2. National Institute of Nutrition, Hyderabad,

3. National Institute of Occupational Health, Ahmedabad,

4. National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Disease Kolkata,

5. All India Institute of Medical Science New Delhi,

6. All India institute of Hygiene and Public Health Kolkata,

7. Central Food Laboratory, Kolkata,

8. Food Research and Standardization Laboratory , Ghaziabad

9. Central Food Training Research Institute , Mysore

Apart from this there are about 72 food testing laboratories headed by public

analysts in various States under the PFA Act.

The Standards of Weights and Measures Act, 1976, and Standards of

Weights and Measures (Packaged Commodities) Rule, 1977

These legislative measures are designed to establish fair trade practices with

respect to packaged commodities. The rules aim to ensure that the basic rights

of consumers regarding vital information about the nature of the commodity,

the name and address of the manufacturer, the net quantity, date of

manufacture, and maximum sale price are provided on the label. Besides

Standards of Weights and Measures Act, 1976, and Standards of Weights and

Measures (Packaged Commodities) Rule, 1977, there are additional labeling

requirements for food items covered under the PFA Act and Rules. The

Department of Consumer Affairs in the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food,


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and Public Distribution is the regulatory authority for the Standards of Weights

and Measures Act, 1976, and Standards of Weights and Measures (Packaged

Commodities) Rule, 1977 and subsequent notifications. Domestic and

Importers of packaged food products must adhere to these acts, including

labeling the product. The name and address of the importer, the net quantity,

date of manufacture, best-before date, and maximum sale price must be

included on the label.

The Fruit Products Order, 1955

The fruit and vegetable processing sector is regulated by the Fruit Products

Order, 1955 (FPO), which is administered by the Ministry of Food Processing

Industries. The FPO contains specifications and quality control requirements

regarding the production and marketing of processed fruits and vegetables,

sweetened aerated water, vinegar, and synthetic syrups. All such processing

units are required to obtain a license under the FPO, and periodic inspections

are carried out. Processed fruit and vegetable products in the country must meet

the FPO standards. In case of variation in the product standard between the

Fruit Products Order, 1955 and PFA Rules prevail over the FPO Act

Meat Food Products Order, 1992

This order administers the permissible quantity of heavy metals, preservatives,

and insecticide residues for meat products. The regulatory authority for this

order is Ministry of food processing Industries. This order is equally applicable

to domestic and foreign processors and importers of meat products. However,

its implementation is weak due to unorganized production in the domestic

market and few imports.

Experts opinion

For writing this paper we consulted a number of experts including the

government officials dealing with the Food safety Issues. Some expert believe

that the Act will have a significant impact on the Indian dietary supplement

industry as the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994(DSHEA) has had for the United States dietary supplement industry. The FSS

Act will now open up tremendous opportunities for dietary supplement

companies throughout the world that want to sell to the Indian market. Some of

the experts are also of the opinion that the Bill cannot be implemented

effectively as we dont have sufficient infrastructure and quality manpower not

even under the PFA Act. The laboratories under the Ministry of Health are in


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bad shape and existing for the name only they are also lacking in infrastructure

and skilled manpower. Some believe that the New Act will boast the Food

Trade for which it is made and will do little with the consumers food safety.

The new Act will increase the existing inspector Raj as the licensing and

registration has made compulsory under the Act. Some experts were of the

opinion that all the regulations and Standards should be laid down science

based only, Risk Assessment, the implementation of the Act has to be scientific

& knowledge based. The Staff engaged in the actual implementation of the Act

should be trained experienced and qualified. We should have transparent

compliance norms for its implementation wherein the role of State Govts.

Municipal corporations, Panchayats Port export authority etc. should be

explicitly defined. The Authority should also conduct training programme for

the staff engaged in implementation of the Act from time to time.


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Observations

From Media sources we come to know that after the Presidential assent the

MFPI was in the process of forming the FSSAI (as per the statement given by

the Secretary, MFPI in Indian Express Decembe 20, 2006). As per theParliamentary Standing Committee report the Committee asked the Ministry of

Food Processing Industries in October 2005 for detail of Food Testing

Laboratories functioning under the ministry in the country, state-wise and

whether they have been equipped properly along with the required manpower

including as implementation of this Bill mainly depends on testing/analysis

food samples. The reply of the Ministry revealed that a proper infrastructure

(laboratories) is yet to be established. Therefore we can assume that though

MFPI has drafted the IFL but the Ministry is not fully equipped to handle its

baby. The positions of the laboratories under the MoH are also pathetic, out of

74 labs under the Ministry maximum are poorly equipped and lack in skilledmanpower therefore ministry of Health at this point is also not fully equipped

for the implementation of the FSS Act 2006. We also believe that the Food

inspector working under the PFA Act have little idea about the consumers food

safety, GHP and GMP.

Food Laws in US and UK

The position in respect of similar laws in the US and UK is as under:-

(1) USA :- The Organisation which is responsible for public health in the USAis the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The FDA falls within the

executive branch of the US government under the Department of Health and

Human Services. The FDA is headed by a Commissioner of Food and Drugs,

who is appointed by the President of the United States, confirmed by the US

Senate, and serves at the Presidents discretion. The Office of the

Commissioner (OC) oversees all the Agencys components and is responsible

for the efficient and effective implementation of FDAs mission.

The FDA is responsible for protecting the public health by assuring the safety,

efficacy and security of human and veterinary drugs, biological products,

medical devices, our nations food supply, cosmetics and products that emitradiation. The FDA is also responsible for advancing the public health by

helping to speed innovations that make medicines and foods more effective,

safer and more affordable, and helping the public get the accurate, scientific

based information they need to use medicines and foods to improve their

health. The Office of Regulatory Affairs (ORA) is the lead office of FDAs

filed activities. The ORA strives to achieve effective and efficient compliance


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of regulated products through high-quality, science-based work that maximizes

consumer protection.

(2) UK :- In UK the Food Standards Agency (FSA) is an independent

Government department set up by an Act of Parliament in 2000 to protect the

publics health and consumer interests in relation to food. The Agency is led by

a Board appointed to act in public interest

Key Provisions of the Act

Analysis of Food

Under chapter VIII of the Act the analysis of Food is dealt clause 43(1) of the

Act states that

The Food Authority may notify food laboratories and research institutions

accredited by National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration

Laboratories or any other accreditation agency for the purposes of cawing out

analysis of samples by the Food Analysts under this Act.

(2) The Food Authority shall, establish or recognize by notification, one or

more referral food laboratory or laboratories to carry out the functions

entrusted to the referral food laboratory by this Act or any Rules and

regulations made there under.

(3) The Food Authority may frame regulations specifying-

(a) the functions of food laboratory and referral food laboratory and the localarea or areas within which such functions may be carried out;

(b) the procedure for submission to the said laboratory of samples of articles of

food for analysis or tests, the forms of the laboratory's reports thereon and the

feespayable in respect of such reports; and

(c) such other matters as may be necessary or expedient to enable the said

laboratory to carry out its functions effectively.

We believe that for Analysis of food a network of laboratories is essential as

analysis of food is possible only if analysis of samples is conducted in a proper

and smooth manner and therefore, recommend that a new provision has to beintroduced requiring the Food Safety Authority to specify the criteria to be used

to recognize laboratories and referral laboratories for the purposes of the Act.

We also feel that in the absence of fully equipped laboratories with adequate

trained staff, it is not possible to implement the Act effectively. Therefore,

immediate steps will have to be taken to establish at least one fully equipped


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lab with trained manpower in each district of the country. The standards for

analyzing various categories of food may also be laid down

Regulatory authority

The Act proposes to establish the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India(FSSA), which would lay down scientific standards of food safety and ensure

safe and wholesome food. The FSSA would be assisted by a Central Advisory

Committee, a Scientific Committee and a number of Scientific Panels in

specifying standards. The standards would be enforced by the Commissioner of

Food Safety of each state through Designated Officers and Food Safety

Officers. The Act establishes the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India

(FSSA), which authority will be assisted by a central advisory committee, a

scientific committee and a number of scientific panels. The Commissioner of

Food Safety of each state through Food Safety Officers would enforce the

standards.

Enforcement

Every food business operator is required to have a license in order to operate

his food business. Petty manufacturers who make their own food, hawkers,

vendors or temporary stall holders do not require a license. Instead, they need

to get their businesses registered with the local municipality or Panchayat. The

Act empowers the FSSA and State Food Safety Authorities to monitor and

regulate the food business operators. The Commissioner of Food Safety of each

state appoints a Designated Officer (DO), not below the level of Sub-Divisional

Officer, for a specific district whose duties include issuing or canceling

licenses, prohibiting sale of food articles that violate specified standards,

receiving report and samples of food articles from Food Safety Officers and

getting them analyzed. The DO also has the power to serve an 'improvement

notice' on any food operator and suspend his license in case of failure in

compliance with such a notice. The DO also investigates any complaint made

in writing against Food Safety Officers. Food Safety Officers are appointed for

a specified local area and their duties include taking samples of food articles,

seizing food articles that are of suspect quality or inspecting any place where

food articles are stored or manufactured.

Jurisdiction

The State Commissioner, on the recommendation of the Designated Officer,

decides whether a case of violation would be referred to a court of ordinary

jurisdiction or to a Special Court. Cases relating to grievous injury or death for


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which a prison term of more than three years is prescribed are tried in Special

Courts. In order to judge cases related to breach of specified regulations, the

state government has the power to appoint an Adjudicating Officer, not below

the rank of Additional District Magistrate. Any person not satisfied by the

decision of an Adjudicating Officer has the right to appeal to the Food Safety

Appellate Tribunal (or to the State Commissioner until the Tribunal is

constituted). The Tribunal enjoys the same powers as a civil court and decides

the penalty in case of non-compliance with the provisions of the Act.

Penalty

The Act provides for a graded penalty structure where the punishment depends

on the severity of the violation. Offences such as manufacturing, selling,

storing or importing sub-standard or misbranded food could incur a fine.

Offences such as manufacturing, distributing, selling or importing unsafe food,

which result in injury could incur a prison sentence. The sentence could extend

to life imprisonment in case the violation causes death. Petty manufacturers

who make their own food, hawkers, vendors or temporary stall holders could be

fined up to Rs 1 lakh if they violate the specified standards.

Issues of Consumers Concerns

There are a number of Consumer concerns relating to the implementation of the

law some of which are listed below:-

Penalty of lowering standards to protect consumer Health

Process qualification and expansion of personnel to man the proposed

FSSI

Role of State governments in the implementation of the Act.

Mechanism for adjudication, compounding and compensation to

consumers.

There are several sections in the Food Safety and Standards Act, which

are bound to adversely affect consumers. For instance, the procedure for

improvement notices provided under the Sec 32 of the Act givescompanies time to fix things and weakens their liability. Sec 66(1)

enables officials of big companies to escape liability by proving that any

offence under the Act was committed without their knowledge or that

they had exercised due diligence to prevent it. The penalties provided

under the Act are capped at Rs 10 lakh, which will barely make a dent in

the finances of companies who have a turnover in crores.


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The Act provides for a food recall procedure under Sec 28, which

mandates a food business operator to recall a food item if it is

manufactured in contravention of any provision of the Act. However

there is no requirement that the food business operator inform

consumers about a product recall, especially if some of the products

have already been sold. Nor is there any cognizance of junk or fatty

food, ignoring the fact that obesity has emerged as a major problem in

India in recent years. This Act differentiates between contaminants,

which renders food unsafe and extraneous matter. Extraneous matter,

it defines, will not render food unsafe. The Act also excludes plants

prior to harvesting feed from its purview. Any harmful input such as

pesticides in vegetables that could affect the safety standards of food

products is not effectively covered.

While the government has drafted an integrated food law, no assessment

has been made about the technical and upgraded manpower required tomeet and monitor the intended objectives. Therefore the Act could turn

out to be stillborn at the initial stage itself. While the new integrated

food law promises availability of safe food, its effective implementation

will remain the key.

The FSSA tends to veer towards standardization of food standards.

Section 3 (j) of the Act treats all types of food as the same. Natural

organically processed food is not the same as chemically processed

food, which is different from genetically engineered food. Different

foods have different safety risks and need different safety laws and

different systems of management. That is why in Europe there aredifferent standards for organic, for industrial and genetically engineered

foods.

Section 16 (m) states that the Food Authority will take into account

International Standards. Under Indias diverse decentralized plural

economy, a centralized integrated law is inappropriate on many counts.

Indigenous Gur and Mithai have no international standards, they need

indigenous standards. In view of the same laws like the FSSA are bound

to loose their efficacy, as they may be inappropriate to the level and

content, which they address. One law for all food systems is a law that

privileges large-scale industrial commercial establishments anddiscriminates and criminalizes the small, the local, and the diverse.

The enforcement mechanism within the Act is completely against the

consumers and the common citizens of the country. Moreover, the

proposed structure is totally top heavy and waste of our scarce

resources. The structure suggested is also not clear on its functions and

responsibilities with least degree of accountability towards the citizens.


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In the Bill it has been proposed that the Additional District Magistrate,

which shall have the power of Civil Court, will adjudicate this. The

existing PFA Act, 1954 is a Criminal Act and is tried by Criminal

Courts. This is a major change, which goes against the interest of

consumer. We do agree that within the existing PFA we need certain

changes to take care of unintentional mistakes but it has to be done in a

manner, which does not undermine the rights of the consumers who

have paid a value towards the product and services. The penalties

proposed under this Bill do not have any rationality and there is no

minimum punishment / fine proposed in the Act.

With the advent of new technology and day to day projections on TV

and media the experience has shown that food products mostly of

different varieties find a place on the Ads thus attracting the notice of

the general public. No fool proof system has been proposed in the Act

that could deter the Advertisers of sub-standard items from projectingsuch Ads.


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Recommendations

Some of the recommendations that need attention and can be addressed while

laying down the Rules and Regulations under the Act are;

There should be at least one Food Safety Appellate Tribunal in each

State and Union Territory of the Country for quicker and faster

decisions.

The qualification of Food Analysts should not be less than Food

Technologists, Biochemist, Microbiologists and Chemists with Food

Technologist as desirable.

The provision of six months compulsory training should be made for

each food safety officer. There should be a grade system for appointing

these food safety officers e.g. Food safety Officer Grade Junior, Senior

etc. The recruitment should be made at junior level only. Theirpromotion should be based on their performance and understandings of

the subject that can be checked by taking departmental exams that

include written and oral tests.

On recruiting the Food Inspector under PFA on the said post should

again be made compulsory training of 2 months prior to giving them

fresh appointment. We strongly believe that a large chunk of these food

Inspectors has little idea about the aspects of hygiene and safe food for

human consumption. This we believe was the main reason for poor

implementation of the PFA Act-1954.

In order to check Inspector Raj the Food Officer has to be made

accountable by making him submitting weekly report to the District

Food Authority and copy to the State Food Commissioner explicitly

citing the details of applications for Registration of License, search,

seizure etc along with a note from his end explaining the reasons for his

actions. In case of search and seizer the local elected representative

should be a witness during the exercise.

In view of the large variety and diversity of food and food products, it is

felt that experts in the field of toxicologist, microbiology and nutrition

may be represented in the different bodies under the Act up to the extentit is possible.

Under the extant Provision of Food Adulteration Act 1954, there is a

Central Committee for Food Standards which advices the Central and

State Governments on matters rising out of the administration of the Act

and to carry out the other functions assigned to it under the Act (Clause 3

of the PFA Act), with suitable modification not contravening the Act


22/23

CCFS should be absorbed in the Central Advisory Committee under the

Act.

Proper mechanism needs to be evolved to check misleading

advertisements, including ads relating to sale of soft drinks, sodas, etc.,

manufactured by companies which manufacture/sell liquor also by the

same brand name, before they are released in the print or electronic

media.

The FSSAI should work on target basis and publish a Target Plan for 5

years( or may be for 3 years or any other) for itself that will state the

then countrys position on Hygiene, Food Safety, Food Security, threats

etc.

At least one Good quality food laboratory for testing of samples in each

district of the country.

The Codex contact point in India is presently the Director-General of

Health Services in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.Moreover, the MFPI does not have the necessary infrastructure like

testing labs, etc. to enforce the provisions of the Act. It is therefore,

suggested that it would be more appropriate if the Ministry of Health

administers the proposed Act.


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Conclusions

When go through the Act one can find that the primary objective of the Act is

to ensure availability of safe and wholesome food for human consumption.Further, the Act intends to shift from mere regulatory regime to self-reliance

through Food Safety Management Systems. But this laudable step of the

Government to have a consolidated Food Law may not be successful as there

are numerous ambiguities that still exist in the Act. Now making the Act as a

Consumer Friendly Law is the responsibility of FSSAI primarily. We also

know that its a long term process but ultimately can be achieved this requires

modification/amendment in all the concerned clauses especially those relating

to grant of license, enforcement of the act, analysis of food , offences and

penalties, etc. Now it depends on the Authority how efficiently it utilizes the

existing system including public private partnership in the implementation ofthe Act that gives least burden to the public exchequer and simultaneously safe

and wholesome food to the consumers.

Documents

Food Safety Standard Act2006