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The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (hereinafter
known as "FSSAI"), which is the apex body for regulating
food-based trade in the country had released the Food
Safety and Standards (Import) Regulations (hereinafter
referred to as "Regulations"), in March
2017 with a view to monitor, compliances and regulatory
mechanisms required for importing food products into India. In the
furtherance of the said objectives, the FSSAI amended the
regulations by notifying on Food Safety and Standards (Import)
First Amendment Regulations, 2018, vide notification dated February
7, 2018.
Through this amendment, the following changes have been
introduced:
The food importers will now be
required to register themselves with the Directorate General of
Foreign Trade and possess valid Import-Export Code. (Regulation
3).
The Regulations have defined
'shelf life' as the period between the date of
manufacture and the "Best Before" or "Date of
expiry" whichever is earlier as printed on the label. It
is significant to note that in case of imports, a significant
portion of the shelf life is exhausted by the time the product
reaches India. After the amendment, the Custom Authorities shall
not be clearing any article of food unless it has a valid shelf
life of not less than 60%, or 3 months before expiry, whichever is
less, at the time of import (Regulation 3).
The Regulations provide for
assessment of risks which may arise with regards to the imported
food products. The Regulation states, "The Food Authority
may review the risks associated with articles of food imports from
time to time and adopt a risk-based framework and risk-based
inspection process for clearance of imported articles of
food." Thus, the Food Authorities are, amongst other things
required to profile the Importer, Custom House Agents,
imported product, manufacturer of the imported product, country of
origin, source country of the consignment, port of entry,
compliance history and any other parameters deemed fit for
profiling the risk associated with the commodity. (Regulation
11).
In furtherance of risk minimization,
which states that "the importer shall submit certificate of
sanitary export from authorized agencies in exporting countries for
the categories of food as may be specified by the Food Authority
from time to time. (regulation 11)
You may visit our detailed article with regards to Food Safety
and Standards (Licensing and Registration of Food Businesses)
Regulations, 2011, over
here.
For further information please contact at S.S Rana &
Co. email: info@ssrana.in or
call at (+91- 11 4012 3000). Our website can be accessed at
www.ssrana.in
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guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought
about your specific circumstances.
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