In the News
India Prepares to Implement Sweeping, New Food Safety Regulations
Jul 22, 2010
India is in the final stages of implementing its Food Safety and Standards Act (FSSA), 2006. The FSSA, 2006 integrates all of India's food laws—including the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954—into a single law, and consolidates responsibility for all food safety issues and standards into one regulatory agency. Under the FSSA, 2006, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) was established in September 2008 with the mandate to establish science-based standards for articles of food; regulate the manufacture, storage, distribution, sale, and import of food; and to ensure availability of safe and wholesome food for human consumption.
The FSSA, 2006 also directs FSSAI to develop regulations to implement the Act. Accordingly, FSSAI prepared draft Food Safety and Standards Rules in November 2009 after consulting with stakeholders, Central Government officials, and State Government representatives. Then modified FSSA draft regulations were placed on the Authority's website in December 2009 and public comments were accepted until February 11, 2010. The FSSA draft regulations were also discussed in the first meeting of Central Advisory Committee of FSSAI held on January 19, 2010. Based on the comments received from the stakeholders and input from the review committee, the FSSA draft regulations were modified again and reviewed by FSSAI in April 2010 for approval. FSSAI has sent the final draft Food Safety and Standards (FSS) Regulations, 2010 to India's central government for final approval. When the final approval is granted, a notification will be published in India's Official Gazette.
Dr. P. I. Suvrathan, Chairperson of FSSAI, predicted that, "The Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 is all set to be rolled out all over the country by September, 2010," in an article that appeared in the May 2010 issue of the FSSAI Newsletter. The May issue is the first newsletter published by FSSAI, and while the newsletter states, "For internal circulation only," it is available on FSSAI's website. Suvrathan also stated in article that with the finalization of the rules and regulations for transition to the new integrated food law, "India thus joins a group of advanced nations in adopting an integrated food law in line with international best practices, adopting a scientific approach to development of food standards."
The FSS Regulations, 2010 are organized by chapters. For example, packaging and labeling regulations are in chapter four. The chapter structure allows future regulations to be incorporated into the pertinent chapters, thereby avoiding the confusion associated with the earlier structure under which a large number of amendments were haphazardly added, according to FSSAI.