In what may be the last chance for the food business operators to get their licenses converted according to the Food Safety and Standards Act (FSSA) that came into force in 2011, the chances of any advisory being issued by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) to extend the deadline beyond August 4, 2014 are very slim.
Since the advisories were have to be rectified through legislation, henceforth according to the senior officials of the FSSAI, the decision on extension, if any, would be taken only through an act of legislation by Parliament.
KK Jindal, commissioner, Department of Food Safety, Delhi, stated, “As far as registration and licensing is concerned, August 4, 2014 is the deadline.”
“The deadline has been extended many times, but this is the last time it has been extended and there is no provision under the Act that it would be extended further, as no administrative authority would be able to extend it,” he added.
“Only Parliament can intervene to change this date, “ stated Jindal, sharing his views with some food business operators (FBO) in New Delhi during an interaction on the subject of licencing and registration.
He said, “In Delhi, the department is expecting that around 50,000 FBO (whose turnover exceeds Rs 12 lakh) would be eligible for licencing, while an estimated 1.5 lakh FBO need registration.”
He informed that so far (until the second week of July), 6,000 licences were given, and out of 7,000 applications received so far, 590 were registered.
However, experts feel that the figure of 50,000 may not be right, and officials, when asked, clarified that it is an estimated number based on the population, as there wasn’t any prior data.
Meanwhile, Jindal appealed to FBO to take the licences and get registered, because, if the FBO failed, the penal provisions are severe. Defaulters would be liable to be imprisoned for upto six months and fine upto Rs 5 lakh.
He said, “To further intensifying the drive we are upgrading the felicitating infrastructure in the city, alongside the 126 centres already running in various parts of Delhi.”
“Under the Mission Convergence Programme of the Delhi government, we are operating Samajik Suvidha Sangam Centres to help the FBO, particularly those who find it difficult through online,” Jindal said.
Further, the department is taking part with non-government organisations (NGO) to spread awareness amongst the vendors besides using advertisement and FM channels.
Also in a couple of weeks’ time, a big centre is coming up at Mayur Bhavan at Connaught Place.
“Twenty-two more desks were to be operated, two for each district of Delhi. The place is convenient and easily accessible for the majority of Delhi,” Jindal said.
But sources say that it would not be possible for the task of registration and licencing to get completed by the end of this deadline as well. It is pertinent to mention that three years have passed since the process was started.
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