Even as most food and beverage industry representatives and bodies are
wary of the efficacy of another extension to the deadline for obtaining
licence and securing registration by FBOs under the Food Safety and
Standards (Licensing and Registration of Food Business) Regulations,
2011, in completion of the process, CAIT, the body spearheading the
movement against implementation of FSSR, 2011, in its present state, is
confident of finding a solution to the issue in the forthcoming Budget
session of Parliament.
While the new deadline is August 4, 2015,
entailing an extension of six months, starting from February 4, 2015,
the previous deadline, a review of the FSS Act, 2006, and FSSR, 2011, is
currently underway. It is expected that this review, which is being
done as per the ground realities in India with regard to climatic and
other conditions, will make the Act and Regulations more
industry-friendly and the same will be adopted in the form of an
Amendment to the Regulations during Budget 2015-16.
Praveen
Khandelwal, secretary-general, CAIT (Confederation of All India
Traders), explains, “There would not be any need to further extend the
deadline as the subject of licensing and registration would be duly
deliberated in course of the review of FSS Act and Regulations, in the
second half of the Budget session and a remedy would be forthcoming in
the form of an Amendment.”
Interestingly, the latest extension
is the fifth since the implementation of FSS Act, 2006, and the
subsequent FSS Regulations, 2011, in the country on August 5, 2011.
Thus, though the regulations are in vogue for about four years, the rate
of licensing and registration completed so far in the country, stands
at approximately six per cent - around 30 lakh out of five crore FBOs
completed the procedure.
In this regard, an analysis of the
number of licensing and registrations completed in the recent past shows
how the pace has been slow all along. FSSAI, in a reply, stated that as
on January 15,2015, a total of 23,57,047 FBOs (food business operators)
got registered and 5,45,653 got licensed under the Regulations, on
December 24,2014, it had granted 17,775 Central licences, while states /
UTs granted 5,45,065 licences and registered 23,53,083 FBOs.Even on
October 15, 2014, the figures do not have much difference - procedure
for obtaining 520,867 licences and securing 22,72,018 registrations was
completed. Clearly the pace is sluggish.
Further, in Delhi, till
January 31, 2015, 7,213 licences were distributed, a number that was
marginally higher than the previous tally - 6,736 licences on January
23. In the latest figures, the number of licences obtained online was
marginally up - 5,941 from the previous of 5,464 licences.
While,
according to industry experts who are not counting on the Amendment to
FSSR, the current extension, which is fifth, will not be sufficient to
complete the process of licensing and registration.
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