New implementation date is 04/05/16. Extensions now will be three months rather than 6-12 months, new regulations for more products are underway.
Only one out of every 15 food businesses in the country is registered with the food safety watchdog FSSAI despite several extensions of the deadline for obtaining licences.
Stating that the whole issue of food safety is becoming increasingly important,Pawan Kumar Agarwal, CEO, FSSAI said the regulator is framing new regulations for more products that would be in place within the next few months. “In terms of licenses and registrations of food businesses, we still have a very-very long way to go. Only 33 lakh are registered, I am told there are close to five crore food businesses in the country. You can see that it has not even reached 10 per cent the mark,” he said at an Assocham event.
Food business operators cannot operate without obtaining licence from FSSAI. The licensing process was started in August 2011 and thereafter it has been extended many times. As per the Food Safety Standards Act, food business operator is defined as an undertaking, whether private or public, carrying out activities related to any stage of manufacturing, processing, packaging, storage, transportation, distribution of food, imports.
In its latest notification, the regulator extended the last date of registration to May 4, 2016. He pointed out that the last date has repeatedly been extended and after consultations it is decided that it should be a three-month extension instead of six months or a year.
