No multiple certifications for food products; only FSSAI nod mandatory

New Delhi: The government has approved various amendments in food safety and standard regulations, under which only one certification from food regulator FSSAI will be required for food products.

Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) will issue a draft notification in this regard and will seek stakeholders’ comments before finalising the amendments.

For food products, certifications from the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) and AGMARK will not be needed if these amendments are finalised.

In a statement, the Health Ministry said the FSSAI in its 43rd meeting approved various amendments to streamline food safety and standards regulations.

The meeting was held under the chairmanship of Union Health Secretary Apurva Chandra.

The ministry said that "only FSSAI certification would be mandatory for food products following finalisation of the amendments." The move would facilitate ease of doing business through the concept of ‘One Nation, One Commodity, One Regulator’.

"Various amendments across different food safety and standards regulations were approved in the meeting to do away with Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) or AGMARK certification for food products," the statement said.

After the amendments are finalised, food businesses would not have to go to different authorities for mandatory certification with only FSSAI certification being made mandatory for food products.

Other approvals include standards of Mead (Honey wine) and Alcoholic Ready-to-drink (RTD) beverages, revision of standards of milk fat products, standards for Haleem etc.

The authority also approved a comprehensive manual of methods of analysis for ensuring regulatory compliance of the food products. The amendments across different Food Safety and Standards Regulations were approved in the meeting for draft notification to invite stakeholder comments before finalisation.

These regulations included the revision of standards of Milk Fat Products, as part of which the fatty acid requirements for Ghee will also be applicable to other milk fat products.

The authority will also set standards for ‘Haleem’ as part of standards for meat products. Haleem is a dish made of meat, pulses, grains and other ingredients, which currently don’t have any set standards.

G Kamala Vardhana Rao, CEO, FSSAI; officials from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Ministry of Law and Justice, Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises; States and Union Territories attended the meeting. Representatives from industry associations, consumer organizations, research institutes and farmers’ organisations were also present in the meeting.