Everything under the food supply chain, post-farm level, till it reaches consumer, comes under the Food Safety and Standards Act.
Mr Ujjwal Kumar, Country Head, CQM Quality Management Pvt Ltd, said this at the inauguration of a training programme on the Food Safety and Standards Act (FSSA) at the Kanara Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) here on Wednesday.
CQM Quality Management Pvt Ltd is a certification body approved by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). Giving the example of ‘chapati', he said the farmer who grows wheat and the consumer who eats chapatti are exempted from this Act. Even the transportation of wheat from farmers' field to the nearest ‘mandi' is covered under the Act.
Urging the food business operators, who come under this Act, to get registered and get licences at the earliest, he said August 4 is the cut-off date for submitting applications for licences and registrations. If a food business operator is found without licence from August 5, it will be an offence, he said.
Prior to the implementation of this Act, eight other Acts related to food items were there. These eight Acts have either been repealed or merged with the new Act.
The difference between the previous eight Acts and the FSSA is that food safety will be moved from multi-point control system to single-point control system, he said.
Stating that licensing system has been decentralised under the new Act, Mr Kumar said Central licensing system covers big business houses and licensing of sensitive items such as imported food products.
The State licensing system covers other areas such as medium business houses.
Import of food items is viewed seriously and it comes under the Central licensing system under the Act.
All imported food items will be checked at the port of entry, he said.
He clarified that petty food business operator, whose turnover is Rs 12 lakh a year or who sells up to 500 l of milk a day, is exempted from taking licences.
However, such an operator will have to get registered under the Act, he added.