“Our food exporters have to adhere to various stringent set of rules and regulations for exporting food, while we do not strain the same sort of stringency on imported food and thus it is imperative to evolve standards for domestically consumed food as we have been having a lackadaisical approach towards setting standards,” said Dr. Chandramouli while sharing his views on initiatives being taken by FSSAI in the areas of regulation in the food sector while addressing an ‘FMCG Summit’ organised by The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM).
“We do have some standards to begin with but we need to take more steps in this regard to ensure the safety of food for consumption which comes from outside,” said the chairperson. “We at FSSAI are working out a mechanism in collaboration with all the stakeholders including the scientists, laboratories, experts and industry representatives from the food business operators (FBOs) including those involved in import-export of food material and for them to ensure that for their goods gets accepted we need to set standards that are internationally minimum.”
The FSSAI in consultation with different stakeholders is also working on setting standards for traditional or the ethnic food as India is home to the largest variety of cuisines across different states, said the chairperson.
“There is also a need for a consensus of the FBOs in the country to ascertain who’s selling what and where so that at the end of the day all get covered and our representatives keep collecting the information in this regard with due support from the state governments to ensure speedy enforcement of the FSSAI Act,” said Dr Chandramouli.
Meanwhile, Mr S.K. Jindal, chairman of the ASSOCHAM Investment and Investors’ Committee urged the government to take necessary steps to protect the consumers’ rights and contain piracy as the direct loss due to piracy is about 20 per cent of the market share of prominent products.
“The FMCG sector in India is facing severe challenges due to the unorganised sector and counterfeiting of brands led by rapid technological advancement and liberalization of Indian economy,” said Mr Jindal. “Another significant concern of the industry is the consumers’ attraction towards these counterfeit products as they are sold at about 45 per cent lesser value than the original, thus the industry must be freed from various undue hassels considering its massive potential to grow further.”
Dr. Lalit Khaitan, CMD, Radico Khaitan Limited shared his views concerning the liquor industry being an integral part of India’s boisterous FMCG industry and said that the industry is subjected to three different acts and governing authorities namely – State Excise Act and Rules, Food Safety and Standards Act and Rules and lastly the Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules and to regulate the mandatory laws on the lables of alcoholic beverages through these multiple laws is a real hassle.
“The frequent changes in regulations adversely affect the operations of the FMCG companies and thus any policy change be affected only after full discussions with all the concerned stakeholders,” said Dr. Khaitan who is also the chairman of ASSOCHAM Northern Regional Development Council.
Amid others who spoke during the event included – Mr M.K. Bhardawaj, chairman, ASSOCHAM Public Procurement Committee; Mr Ankur Shiv Bhandari, MD, Kantar Retail India and Mr Abhishek Malhotra, Partner, Booz & Co.
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