FSSAI notifies norms for food import, outlines guidelines for labelling, health risk review

Regulations to facilitate ease of trade and doing business, ensure health of consumers

NEW DELHI, MARCH 20: 

In a bid to streamline the process of clearance for imported foods, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI ) has notified import regulations.

The regulations include provisions for risk-based framework under which the food regulator may review risks associated with articles of food imports from time to time, besides adopting a risk-based inspection process.

After two-year long consultations with the stakeholders concerned, the Food Safety and Standards (Import) Regulations, 2017 has been notified.

The regulator said the comprehensive regulations would facilitate ease of trade and ease of doing business while ensuring that the health of the consumers is not compromised.

The regulations have laid down procedure for clearance of imported food products into India and include various provisions related to licensing regime for food importers. It also includes provisions for food import clearance for specific purposes, storage, inspection and sampling of imported food articles and prohibition and restriction on food imports, besides labelling provisions for import of food products.

Talking about the risk-based framework, the regulator said, “the regulation specifies the scheme for risk-based sampling imported food articles, which facilitates ease of doing business while not compromising the health of thepublic.”

Besides risk-based sampling, the food authority may introduce a pre-arrival document review for regulating imports. The regulator could also look at entering into a memoranda of understanding with relevant agencies in exporting countries for accelerated clearance of food imports from the countries to facilitate ease of doing business.

“The Food Authority may identify laboratories in exporting countries for prior testing of food samples before the articles of food are imported into India. It may, from time to time, issue food alert notifications, including time-bound prohibition on articles of food or prohibiting source or recalls, based on the risk associated with the articles of food,” the notification said.