NEW DELHI: Delay in setting up the full panel of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has led to a pile up of decisions on setting safety standards and guidelines for several food items, sources said.
Appointments in the FSSAI have taken months to come through. For instance, the post of chairman remained vacant for a significant period after P I Suvrathan retired in September last year after a three month extension. The chairman's post was vacant for a significant period and in January this year former health secretary K Chandramouli
took over.
But now another vacancy has come up with the chief executive officer (CEO) V N Gaur's retirement. Gaur has retired in end February and has already handed over charge. This vacancy is expected to further delay the setting up of the full authority, sources said.
The entire panel which approves safety guidelines comprises 23 members including the chairman. There are members drawn from various ministries and 10 members are nominated from civil society, states and eminent citizens. "Some of the members have not been nominated yet. So from September there has been a delay," sources said.
"Guidelines for caffeinated drinks, draft standards for artificial, sweetners and trans-fats among other decisions have been held due to the delay in nominating the members to the authority. Once the authority is setup it can take decisions which are then passed on to the government for final approval and notification," the sources said.
The FSSAI has been created 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, according to its website.
The ministry of health and family welfare is the administrative ministry for the implementation of FSSAI. The FSSAI has been mandated by the FSS (Food Safety and Standard) Act, 2006 for framing of regulations to lay down the standards and guidelines in relation to articles of food and specifying appropriate system of enforcing various standards, the website says.
Appointments in the FSSAI have taken months to come through. For instance, the post of chairman remained vacant for a significant period after P I Suvrathan retired in September last year after a three month extension. The chairman's post was vacant for a significant period and in January this year former health secretary K Chandramouli
took over.
But now another vacancy has come up with the chief executive officer (CEO) V N Gaur's retirement. Gaur has retired in end February and has already handed over charge. This vacancy is expected to further delay the setting up of the full authority, sources said.
The entire panel which approves safety guidelines comprises 23 members including the chairman. There are members drawn from various ministries and 10 members are nominated from civil society, states and eminent citizens. "Some of the members have not been nominated yet. So from September there has been a delay," sources said.
"Guidelines for caffeinated drinks, draft standards for artificial, sweetners and trans-fats among other decisions have been held due to the delay in nominating the members to the authority. Once the authority is setup it can take decisions which are then passed on to the government for final approval and notification," the sources said.
The FSSAI has been created 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, according to its website.
The ministry of health and family welfare is the administrative ministry for the implementation of FSSAI. The FSSAI has been mandated by the FSS (Food Safety and Standard) Act, 2006 for framing of regulations to lay down the standards and guidelines in relation to articles of food and specifying appropriate system of enforcing various standards, the website says.
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