HC stays certain sections of FSS Rules

Madras High Court today stayed certain provisions of the Food Safety and Standards Rule 2011 on a petition which contended that it offered a 'red carpet welcome' to multinational companies and endangered the existence of local merchants.
Granting the stay, Justice K.Venkataraman also recorded the submission made by central government counsel D.Nallathambi that he was taking notice on behalf of the Union Health and Family Welfare Secretary.
The stay related to provisions including sec 3(adulterant) and 3(1)(Misbrand).
Petitioner, Nellai Merchants Association Secretary M Panneerselvam, contended that the the FSS Act was 'draconian' in nature as the conditions laid down under it were virtually impossible to implement and would result in endangering the existence of the local merchants.
"It offered red carpet welcome to multi-national companies who had high tech production capacity, huge investment and indulge in unethical competition," he submitted.
Also, no distinction was made between adulterated, sub-standard and mis-branded food items under the 14 provisions of the act. Misbranded food product cannot be said to be adulterated and vice versa.
He wondered how the traders were liable to be punished for sub-standard food product for which only the manufacturer was responsible.
Under FSS rules, there were a lot of foods for which no standards had been prescribed. Similarly the manufacturers had been asked to provide various details with respect to ingredients. If food substance is tested in two different labs, using different methods,the results would be different, and the manufacturers would be punished for no fault of them.
The petitioner said such provisions were "unconstitutional, arbitrary, and illegal" and prayed that the court should declare them illegal.
He also sought interim injunction to such provisions relating to misbranding and nutritional information among others.

Pan masala sale soars along Kerala-Karnataka border areas

Kalpetta: The petty shops selling smokeless tobacco products along the Kerala-Karnataka border near here are reaping a windfall on account of the ban imposed by the state government on the sale of pan masala and its variants containing tobacco and nicotine. The customers from the state allege that on certain brands of products, the shops charge more than ten-folds of the original price after the ban. One packet of Hans (a scented chewing tobacco brand), weighing 12 gm, which was being sold for Rs 3 per packet before the ban, is being sold for Rs 30 now.
Though the customers say that the shop owners in towns like Kutta and Bairakuppa near the Wayanad border charge ‘dizzying’ rates, they just cannot resist the impulse. “They charge huge rates. When we complain, they arrogantly say that they are not forcing us to buy,” said Rajkumar, a daily labourer. However, he admits that he often makes up for the loss by smuggling. “Sometimes I buy 10 to 15 packets and sell them among my friends, charging Rs 10 per packet. But, there are frequent surprise checking by the Excise personnel nowadays,” Rajkumar said.
According to the Excise Department officials, the ban imposed from May 22 in the state has increased the smuggling of such chewable products across the border from Karnataka into the district. After the imposition of the ban, large quantities of tobacco products were being frequently seized at the three border check-posts in Bavali, Tholpetty and Muthanga. “It has become a fresh headache for us. This week we seized 2,700 packets of madhu and 330 packets of hans from two persons during our regular inspection.

Both of them were handed over to the police to register a case,” said an official at the Excise Checkpost, Tholpetty, near the Karnataka border. “If the quantity is insignificant, we seize the stuff and destroy it in front of the offender,” the official said. “A case against the proposed ban is still pending in the court. Stringent measures will be initiated if the court upholds a ruling in favour of the ban,” said state Food Safety Commissioner Biju Prabhakar.
The scenario is almost similar to that of 1996, when arrack was banned in the state by the then A K Antony government, said Anil Kumar who runs a hotel near the checkpost in Tholpetty. “At least 10 new petty shops have cropped up on the other side of the border soon after the announcement of the ban. Being a remote border town, the authorities in Karnakata are not bothered to conduct inspections there,” said Anil Kumar.

DINAKARAN NEWS

More time for food joints

The state government has extended the last date for registering firms with concerned registering authorities for outlets and vendors who sell food products for six months, Karnataka Health and Family Welfare Minister Aravinda Limbavali told Karnataka Legislative Council on Friday.
 Replying to a notice issued by the BJP legislator Shashil Namoshi during Zero Hour in the House, the minister announced that the last date for registering firms under the Food Safety and Standard Act 2006 has been extended for six months.
 According to him, the Indian Food Safety and Standard Authority taking into consideration the large number of applications seeking registration under the Act and license to sell food products has issued a circular on the matter.
 As per the circular, the vendors can now register their firms any day between August 5 to February 5, 2013.
 Limbavali said that the Food Safety and Standard Act 2006, which has been implemented in the entire country it is mandatory that firms and business houses which sell food products, including readymade food has to register with the concerned registering authorities under the Act.
 He said that the state government in compliance with the Central Act has constituted registering authorities in all taluks and districts in the state.
 The Food Safety Officer at taluk, district and city corporations are empowered to issue licenses to vendors according to the specifications of the Act.
 Till now, over 12,000 firms have been registered and another 3,500 licenses have been issued.

State acts to curb spurious milk supply

The Karnataka government will crack down on bulk supply of adulterated and spurious milk from neighbouring Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, within a week.
House leader V. Somanna on Friday assured the Legislative Council that the government will hold a high-level meeting of officials from Karnataka Milk Federation, departments of Health, Food and Civil Supplies, police and Urban Development discuss steps to prevent the supply and sale of lakhs of litres of cheaper milk, which is also of inferior quality.
Earlier, Health and Family Welfare minister Arvind Limbavali informed the House that every day, 7.35 lakh litres of milk is supplied to Bengaluru from other states, of which 6.5 lakh litres is packed milk and the remaining is sold loose.
“The Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, and its Rules, are in force to check adulteration. We are collecting food samples, including milk, for testing and in case of adulteration, poor quality or misbranding, cases are being booked. We are in the process of appointing 612 food inspectors to strengthen the department,” said Mr Limbavali.
Council member Mr M.C. Nanaiah suggested that co-ordinated efforts by all departments could put an end to milk adulteration in the city. “The KMF produces 41 lakh litres of milk every day, but nearly 11 lakh litres remains unutilized. The milk coming in from other states is a health hazard,” he warned.
On March 26, Kalasipalya police seized 10,000 litres of spurious milk being sold in South Bengaluru.
Hanumanthanagar corporator K. Chandrashekar had said in the council that milk adulterated with chemicals is brought from Erode and sold in South Bengaluru.
Following this, BBMP had slapped a show-cause notice on the Chief Health Officer (CHO) Dr K.E. Manjula and suspended four food inspectors - Naganna, Mallikarjun, Udaykumar and Ataulla Khan - on charges of dereliction of duty. Tight vigil is being maintained against sale of spurious milk, said sources in the BBMP

Govt admits to sale of adulterated milk in City

The government on Friday admitted it was aware of adulterated, contaminated or misbranded milk being sold in Bangalore City.

Health and Family Welfare Minister Aravind Limbavali, replying to a query by MLC M Srinivas (JD-S) in the Legislative Council, said that 7.35 lakh litres of milk was being supplied to Bangalore from outside the State. Of this, about 6.50 lakh litres is packet milk from private companies and 0.85 lakh litres is sold loose.
He said tests (as prescribed under the Food and Safety Standards Act, 2006) conducted by his department had revealed that milk, milk-based products and bottled water were contaminated, adulterated, unsafe, misbranded and of substandard quality.

Srinivas alleged that substandard milk from other states was being sold in Karnataka for last one decade and the government did not do anything about it.

According to Limbavali, on March 26, around 10,000 litres of milk was seized from four Tamil Nadu lorries at Kalasipalyam.

Tests showed the milk was adulterated.  Of the 35 samples taken from across the State in 2012, two samples were adulterated and one was misbranded.

Poor Response To FSSA Registration

Government may have to extend August 5 deadline,  as traders unhappy with  controversial Act.


The Union governments’ efforts to get Wholesalers and retailers to sign up for the Food Safety and Standard Act (FSSA) 2006, which deals with the manufacturing, processing and sales of all eatable items, have met with little success. As the deadline of August 5 is fast approaching only 50% of the country’s traders have opted for the convergence and done their registration under the new guidelines so far as per the data given by the various trade associations.

 According to The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), most of the retail/wholesale traders are not happy with the controversial Food Safety and Standard Act (FSSA) 2006 which not only increase the burden for the traders but gives ample power to the government officials, including the suspension of the license.

FSSA, 2006 is an Act to consolidate the laws relating to food and to establish the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India. The Act was needed to bring out a single statutory body for food laws, standards setting and enforcement so that there is no confusion in the minds of consumers, traders, manufacturers and investors which was due to multiplicity of food laws. The mandate assigned to the Food Authority is 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 Devendera Thakker, spokesman, Mumbai Mewawala Traders Association.(MMT) the FSSA 2006 is copied from the Western-world which have a different lifestyle, excellent weathers, and quality infrastructural facilities compared to India. “Actually in India we have humid conditions and poor infrastructure along with mixed lifestyle and hence the FSSA 2006 has no relevance here,” he said. 

Thakker pointed out that the wholesale –retail traders of Maharashtra are already under pressure due to various taxation-governmental departments which including Gumaasta-Shop Establishment, Maharashtra Sales tax,  ESIC, VAT, Income Tax, Octroi, APMC, Local Police,  Weight and Measures and Food Safety Act. “The new act will only add the cumbersome process for the traders,” he added.

“Such lengthy process can be easily implemented by the organized sector as well as Fast Moving Consumer Goods Manufacturers (FMCG) multinationals as they have both monetary powers as well as sufficient staff to handle them,” he added further.

“There is no scientific basis for the implementation of the Act, its rules and regulations. Moreover, we are afraid of implementing it - that is where the problem lies. The regulatory approach is wrong, and from the stakeholders’ point of view, it would not be incorrect to say that it isn’t awareness or education, but sensitization which is an absolute must. The law is draconian, and could promote more corruption than there is now,” he said.

Thakker said that The Mumbai Mewawala Traders Association, has already filed a writ petition against   the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI)  in the Mumbai High Court, demanding withdrawal of Food Safety and Standard Act, 2006, which is likely to come up for the hearing during the first week of August.

However, going by the slow rate of convergence and poor response from the retail traders, it is learnt that the Union government is going to extend the deadline by at least six months from 5th August 2012.

DINAMALAR NEWS