FOOD SAFETY AND STANDARDS ACT,
2006
• The safety of food is vital to all consumers and food
businesses.
• Consumers must have confidence that the food they buy
and eat will be what they expect,
• Food will do them no harm and that they are protected
from adulteration/fraud. The importance of this
confidence cannot be underestimated for businesses.
• Although food safety legislation affects everyone in the
country, it is particularly relevant to anyone working in
the production, processing, storage, distribution and sale
of food, no matter how large or small the business. This
includes non-profit making organisations also.
The new Act, Rules, and
Regulations w.e.f. 5/8/11
1.
2.
Food Safety and Standard Act 2006
Food Safety and Standard Rules 2011
3. FOOD SAFETY AND STANDARDS (LICENSING AND REGISTRATION
OF FOOD BUSINESSES), REGULATIONS 2011
4. FOOD SAFETY AND STANDARDS (PACKAGING AND LABELLING)
REGULATIONS, 2011
5. FOOD SAFETY AND STANDARDS (FOOD PRODUCTS STANDARDS AND
FOOD ADDITIVES) REGULATIONS, 2011 part I and II
6. FOOD SAFETY AND STANDARDS (PROHIBITION AND RESTRICTIONS
ON SALES) REGULATIONS, 2011
7. FOOD SAFETY AND STANDARDS (CONTAMINANTS, TOXINS AND
RESIDUES) REGULATIONS, 2011
8. FOOD SAFETY AND STANDARDS (LABORATORY AND SAMPLE
ANALYSIS) REGULATIONS, 2011
FOOD SAFETY AND STANDARDS ACT,
2006
• The Food Safety & Standards Act 2006 is Act to consolidate the laws
relating to food and to establish the Food Safety and Standards Authority
of India for laying down science based standards for articles of food and
to regulate their manufacture, storage distribution, sale and import, to
ensure availability of safe and wholesome food for human consumption
and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.
• Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954
• Fruit Products Order, 1955
• Meat Food Products Order, 1973
• Vegetable Oil Products (Control) Order, 1947
• Edible Oils Packaging (Regulation) Order, 1988,
• Solvent Extracted Oil, De-oiled Meal and Edible Flour (Control) Order,
• 1967
• Milk and Milk Products Order, 1992
• Any order under Essential Commodities Act, 1955 relating to food.
SALIENT FEATURE OF THE ACT
• Movement from multi-level and multi-department control
to a single line of command
• FSSAI as a single reference point for all matters relating to
Food Safety and Standards, Regulations and Enforcement
• Integrated response to strategic issues like Novel foods,
Health Foods, Nutraceuticals, GM foods, international
trade etc.
• Decentralisation of licensing for manufacture of food
products
• Achieve high degree of consumer confidence in quality &
safety of food
• Investors friendly regulatory mechanism with emphasis
on self regulations and capacity building
SALIENT FEATURE OF THE ACT:• Enforcement of the legislation by the State Governments/UTs
through the State Commissioner for Food Safety, his officers and
Panchayati Raj/Municipal bodies
• Emphasis on gradual shift from regulatory regime to self
compliance through food safety management system.
• Consistency between domestic and international food policy
measures without reducing safeguards to public health and
consumer protection
• Adequate information dissemination on food to enable consumer
to make informed choices.
• Compounding and Adjudication of cases – to reduce Court’s
workload and expedite the disposal of cases
• Graded penalty depending upon the gravity of offences
NEW PROVISIONS UNDER THE ACT
•
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Regulation of food imported in the country
Provision for food recall
Surveillance
New enforcement structure
Envisages large network of food labs
New justice dispensation system for fast track
disposal of cases
• Harmonization of domestic standards with
international food standards
• Covering Health Foods, supplements, nutraceuticals
NEW PROVISIONS UNDER THE ACT
• Issuing Licenses within a time frame of 2 months
• Provision of Improvement Notice by Designated
Officers
• Compensation to Victims (for any case of
Injury/ Grievous injury/ Death)
• Reward to informer (informing about the
violators –adulteration etc.) by State Govt.
• No License for small food business operators;
only registration is mandatory
• Central licensing from Authority.
SCOPE OF THE ACT
• The Act covers activities throughout the food
distribution chain, from primary production
through distribution to retail and catering.
• The Act gives the Government powers to
make regulations on matters of food safety.
• The Food Safety & Standards Authority of
India is the principal Government Authority
responsible for preparing specific regulations
under the Act.
ENFORCEMENT OF THE ACT
Authorities responsible for enforcement of Act.(1) The Food Authority and the State Food Safety Authorities shall
be responsible for the enforcement of this Act.
(2) The Food Authority and the State Food Safety Authorities shall
monitor and verify that the relevant requirements of law are
fulfilled by food business operators at all stages of food business.
(3) The authorities shall maintain a system of control and other
activities as appropriate to the circumstances, including public
communication on food safety and risk, food safety surveillance
and other monitoring activities covering all stages of food
business.
(4) The Food Safety Officers shall enforce and execute within their
area the provisions of this Act with respect to which the duty is
not imposed expressly or by necessary implication on some other
authority.
ENFORCEMENT OF THE ACT
(5) The Commissioner of Food Safety and Designated Officer shall
exercise the same powers as are conferred on the Food Safety
Officer and follow the same procedure specified in this Act.
PROPOSED STRUCTURE OF ENFORCEMENT AT STATE…….
Food Safety Commissioner
Joint Food Safety Commissioner
Joint Director
Deputy Food Safety Commissioner
Chief Food Analyst
Designated Officer
Food Analyst
Senior Food Safety Officer
Food Safety Officer
ADJUDICATION AND FOOD SAFETY
TRIBUNALS
ADJUDICATING OFFICER
State Govt. to notify
Adjudicating Officer not
below the rank of Addl.
District Magistrate.
FOOD SAFETY APPELLET
TRIBUNAL
Central Govt. or State Govt.
may notify and establish one or
more tribunals known as Food
Safety Appellate Tribunals
SPECIAL COURTS
Central Govt. or State Govt.
may constitute special courts
for trial of offences relating to
grievous injury or death of the
consumer
Commissioner of Food Safety
• Commissioner of Food Safety appointed by
the State Government for implementation of
food safety and standards and other
requirement of the act. Shall perform
following functions • Prohibit manufacture/storage/ distribution /
sale of any article of food in the public
interest.
• Carry out survey of food processing Units
• Conducting or organizing training
programmers for different segment of food
chain for generating awareness on food safety
• Ensure an efficient and uniform
implementation of standards
• Ensure high standards of objectivity,
accountability, practicability, transparence and
credibility
• Sanction prosecution for offences punishable
with imprisonment
Designated Officer
• Designated Officer appointed by the
Commissioner Food Safety to be the in-charge
of food safety administration of the area. Shall
perform the following functions:• to issue or cancel license of food business
operators;
• to prohibit the sale of any article of food;
• to receive report and samples of article of
foods from Food Safety Officer under his
jurisdiction and get them analyzed
• to make recommendations to the
Commissioner of Food Safety for sanction to
launch prosecutions in case of contraventions
punishable with imprisonments
• to sanction or launch prosecutions in cases of
contraventions punishable with fine
• to maintain record of all inspections made by
Food Safety Officers
• to get investigated any complaint in respect
of contraventions of the provisions of act.
• to investigate any complaint which may be
made in writing against the Food Safety
Officer
Food Safety Officer
• Food Safety Officer appointed by the
Commissioner Food Safety for performing
functions under the act.
• The Food safety Officer may take a sample of
any food, or any substance, which appears to
him to be intended for sale, or to have been
sold for human consumption;
• seize any article of food which appears to the
Food Safety Officer to be in contravention of
this Act or the regulations made there under;
• The Food Safety Officer may enter and inspect
any place where the article of food is
manufactured, or stored for sale,
• Seize Any adulterant found in the possession
of a manufacturer or distributor of, or dealer,
• Seize any books of account or other
documents
Control on Advertisement
•This act provides for restriction on advertisement of any food
which misleads or contravenes the provisions of the Act or the
rules and regulations made there under.
•It also provides for prohibition as to any unfair trade practice
for the purpose of promoting sale, supply, use and
consumption of articles of food or adoption of any unfair or
deceptive practice to mislead the public regarding the
standards, quality, quantity, usefulness or giving of any
guarantee of the efficacy that is not based on an adequate or
scientific justification thereof.
PROVISIONS RELATING TO IMPORT
An imports of articles of food to be subject to this Act.No person shall import into India(i) Any unsafe or misbranded or sub-standard food or food
containing extraneous matter;
(ii) Any article of food for the import of which a licence is
required under any Act or rules or regulations, except in
accordance with the conditions of the licence and
(iii)Any article of food in contravention of any other
provision of this Act or of any rule or regulation made
there under or any other Act.
SPECIAL RESPONSIBILITIES AS TO FOOD SAFETY
Responsibilities of the food business operator.(l) Every food business operator shall ensure that the articles of food
satisfy the requirements of this Act and the rules and regulations made
there under at all stages of production, processing, import, distribution
and sale within the businesses under his control.
(2) No food business operator shall himself or by any person on his
behalf manufacture, store, sell or distribute any article of food(i) Which is unsafe; or
(ii) Which is misbranded or sub-standard or contains extraneous
matter; or
(iii) For which a licence is required, except in accordance with the
conditions of the licence; or
(iv) Which is for the time being prohibited by the Food Authority or
the Central Government or the State Government in the interest of
public health; or
SPECIAL RESPONSIBILITIES AS TO FOOD SAFETY
(v) in contravention of any other provision of this Act or of
any rule or regulation made there under.
(3) food business operator shall not employ any person who
is suffering from infectious, contagious or loathsome
disease.
(4) No food business operator shall sell or offer for sale any
article of food to any vendor unless he also gives a
guarantee in writing in the form specified by regulations
about the nature and quality of such article to the vendor
e.g. bill, cash memo, or invoice etc.
SPECIAL RESPONSIBILITIES AS TO FOOD SAFETY
Liability of Manufacturers, packers, wholesalers, distributors and
sellers.(l) The manufacturer or packer of an article of food shall be liable for
such article of food if it does not meet the requirements of this Act
and the rules and regulations made there under.
(2) The wholesaler or distributor shall be liable under this Act for any
article of food which is(a) supplied after the date of its expiry; or
(b) stored or supplied in violation of the safety instructions of the
manufacturer; or
(c) unsafe or misbranded, or
(d) unidentifiable of manufacturer from whom the article of food have
been received; or
(e) stored or handled or kept in violation of the provisions of this Act,
the rules and regulations made there under; or
(f) received by him with knowledge of being unsafe.
SPECIAL RESPONSIBILITIES AS TO FOOD SAFETY
(3) The seller shall be liable under this Act, for any article of
food which is
(a) sold after the date of its expiry; or
(b) handled or kept in unhygienic conditions; or
(c) misbranded; or
(d) unidentifiable of the manufacturer or the distributors
from whom such articles of food were received; or
(e) received by him with knowledge of being unsafe.
SPECIAL RESPONSIBILITIES AS TO FOOD SAFETY
Food recall procedures.(l) If a food business operators considers or has reasons to
believe that a food which he has processed, manufactured or
distributed is not in compliance with this Act, or the rules or
regulations, made there under, he shall immediately initiate
procedures to withdraw the food in question from the market and
consumers indicating reasons for its withdrawal and inform the
competent authorities thereof.
(2) A food business operator shall immediately inform the
competent authorities and co-operate with them, if he considers
or has reasons to believe that a food which he has placed on the
market may be unsafe for the consumers.
SPECIAL RESPONSIBILITIES AS TO FOOD SAFETY
(3) The food business operator shall inform the competent
authorities of the action taken to prevent risks to the
consumer and shall not prevent or discourage any person
from co-operating, in accordance with this Act, with the
competent authorities, where this may prevent, reduce or
eliminate a risk arising from a Food.
(4) Every food business operator shall follow such
conditions and guidelines relating to food recall procedures
as the Food Authority may specify by regulations.
Quality & Safety Regulations
The Path of Convergence of the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act 1954
to the Food Safety and Standards Act 2006.
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Subject to content
1 Total sections
2 Rules
3 Central Advising authority
4 Chairman
Duties & functions of Food
5
Authority
6 State Authority
7 Local Health Authority
8 Enforcing staff
9 Sample Analizer
Provision under the FSS Act 2006
101
Rules published
Food Safety and Standard Authority of India and
Central Advisory Committee
P. I. Suvarthan.
Prescribed u/s 16
Mr. H. G. Koshia, Commissioner of Food Safety, Food
& Drugs Control Administr5ation, Gujarat State.
Designated officer (Appointed from present staff)
(Section-36)
Food Safety Officer (Appointed from present staff)
(Section-37)
Food Analyst ( Appointed from present staff) (Section45)
Quality & Safety Regulations
The Path of Convergence of the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act 1954
to the Food Safety and Standards Act 2006.
#
Subject to content
Food sample analytical
10
laboratory
No. of days for
11
analysis
12 Food Recall Procedure
13 Prohibition of Food
14 Liability of Food Seller
Provision under the FSS Act 2006
Laboratories to be recognized by FSSAI and acriditiesed by
NABL. Temporary relief is given.
14 days from receipt of sample
Yes, Section-28
Category of Unsafe Food added to adulterated, Misbranded
and contravention of any other provisions (Section-26)
Provision made for sale of expired food or handled or kept in
unhygienic condition (Section-27)
Provision made under section 28 by which Food business
15 Food Recall procedures operator can recall food if he believes that it contravenes
provision of the act.
16 Food Safety Audit
17 Food sampling
Recognition of organization or agency for food safety audit by
the Food Authority.
Divide a sample into 4 parts.
Quality & Safety Regulations
The Path of Convergence of the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act 1954
to the Food Safety and Standards Act 2006.
#
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20
Subject to
Provision under the FSS Act 2006
content
Dispatch of * 1 Part to The Food Analyst
sample
* 2 Parts to the Designated officer
* Fourth part to the Accredited laboratory if requested by the Food business operator to the
Food Safety Officer.
Penalty
 Penalty for selling food not of the nature or quality demanded, or substandard food (up to 5
lakh Rs.)
 Misbranded food (up to 3 lakh Rs.)
 Misleading advertisement (upt o 10 Lakh Rs.),
 Food containing extraneous matter (up to 1 lakh Rs.),
 Failure to comply with the directions of FSO (upto 2 lakh Rs.),
 Unhygienic processing (up to Rs. 1 lakh),
 possessing adulteration :
* Not injurious up to 2 lakh
* injurious up to 10 lakh
 For no specific provision (up to 2.0 lakh Rs.)
Punishment Punishment for Unsafe food :* Not injurious - Jail up to six months & fine up to 1 lakh.
* Non grievous injury- Jail up to 1 year & fine up to 3 lakh.
* Grievous injury- Jail up to 6 years and fine up to 5 lakh.
* Death - Jail more than 7 year & up to life term and fine not less than 10 lakh.
Quality & Safety Regulations
The Path of Convergence of the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act 1954
to the Food Safety and Standards Act 2006.
#
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23
24
25
26
27
Subject to content
Provision under the FSS Act 2006
Punishment
for
subsequent offence
* twice the punishment of the 1st conviction.
* Further fine on daily basis which may extend up to 1.0 lakh where the offence is
continuing one
* Cancellation of licence with publication.
Licensing Registration
Provision for licence and new provision of registration introduced for petty business
operators (Section-31)
Improvement notice
Provision made under Section-32. DO shall give the notice to FBO to comply with the
provision of the act.
Prohibition orders
Any Food business operator is convicted of an offence the court may issue prohibitory
order after hearing of FBO regarding use process, equipment, premises.
Surveillance
Section 30(2) (b) Commissioner empowered - to carryout survey of industrial units.
Sanction for prosecution Sanction to be given by Commissioner of Food safety in offences punishable with
imprisonment (Section 30 (2) (e)
Procedure for launching D.O. shall decide whether the offence is punishable with imprisonment or fine only
of prosecution.
after receiving report from Public Analyst, and shall forwarded with recommendation
to Comm. of Food Safety for offences of imprisonment within 14 days of receipt of
PA report.
The Comm. shall give his consent and concerned F.I. shall launch prosecution.
Quality & Safety Regulations
The Path of Convergence of the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act 1954
to the Food Safety and Standards Act 2006.
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32
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Subject to content
Provision under the FSS Act 2006
Appeal for Retest
An appeal for against the report of Food Aalyst shall lie before the D.O. who shall decide
that the sample be send to the referral laboratory or not for opinion. ( Section 46 (4) )
Power
to The Commissioner of Food Safety may by order may empower Designated Officer to
Compound
accept from petty manufactures who himself manufacture and sell any article of food,
offences
retailers hawkers etc. against whom a reasonable belief exists for an offence, payment of
a sum of money by way of composition of the offence ( Section 69 )
General provisions - Fine upto Rs. 1.0 lakh & relieve of custody.
relating to penalty. Guideline is given for quantum of penalty based on nature of contravention ( Section 49 )
Adjudication
- The adjudicating officer after giving opportunity of hearing in the matter and if on such
inquiry believes that the person has committed offence may impose such penalty as per
section 49.
- Adjudicating officer shall have the powers of a civil court.
Food
Safety To hear the appeals against the decision of the Adjudicating officer under Section 68.
Appellate Tribunal
Civil Court not to No Civil court shall have jurisdiction to entertain any suit or proceeding in respect of
have jurisdiction
matter which an Adjudicating officer or the Tribunal is empowered under FSSA Act. (
Section-72)
Provision of special State / Central Government empowered for it. ( Section 74 )
court & public
prosecution
Quality & Safety Regulations
The Path of Convergence of the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act 1954
to the Food Safety and Standards Act 2006.
#
Subject to content
35 Time limit for
prosecution
36 Reward by State
Government
37 Recovery of penalty
Provision under the FSS Act 2006
No court shall take cognizance of an offence under this act
after the expiry of the period of 1 year from the date of
offence (Section 72)
The state Government may empower the commissioner to
order payment of reward to be paid to a person. who renders
assistance in the detection of the offence or the apprehension
of the offender (Section 95)
shall be recovered as an arrear of land revenue and defaulter's
licence shall be suspended till the penalty is paid (Section 96)
Deemed to be regulations under this act (Section 99)
38 Milk and Milk
Products order, 1992
39 Infant Milk
Amendments to the infant milk substitutes, Feeding Bottles
substitute, feeding
and Infand Food. (Regulation of production, Supply, ad
bottles and Infant
Distribution Act 1992 included (Section 100)
foods.
License: - Under the purview of Central Licensing Authority [3.2.2(3)]
1
Dairy units
>50,000 liter of liquid milk/day or 2500 MT
milk solid/year
2
Vegetable oil processing & solvent extracting unit
>2 MT/day
3
Slaughter houses
50 large animals or >150 small animals or
.1000 poultry birds
4
Meat processing
>500 kg/day or .>150 MT/ year
5
All food processing units including repackers other
than above except grain, cereals & pulses milling >2 MT/ day
units
6
7
8
9
10
100 % EOU
All importers importing food items for commerce use.
All Food Business Operators manufacturing any article of food which does not fall
under any of the food categories prescribed under regulations.
Retail chains in 3 or more states
Food catering in establishments & units under Central Government Agencies like
Railway, Air, Seaport, and Defense