Enforcement of Food Safety Act hit in State

Suffering staff crunch, officials try to meet February 2014 deadline for registrations
With a 60 per cent shortage in the number of food safety officers, implementation of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2011, has become a problem in Karnataka. Unable to meet the targets of registrations of and issuance of licence to firms/units under the new Act, the deadline has been extended twice.

Officials of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) in the State are now concentrating on registering and issuance of licences to firms and units in the business of manufacturing, transporting, processing, storing and selling easily perishable items (milk, vegetables, ice cream et al) to bring them under the ambit of the new rules, on a priority basis.

“Registration of other units will be carried out later,” one of the designated officers said, adding that the law mandates these registrations so that they fall under the purview of the Act.

A senior official from FSSAI told Deccan Herald over the phone: “The first deadline was September 2012, and it was extended to February this year and now it has been extended again.”

Statutory advisory
A statutory advisory issued on February 5, 2013, a copy of which is with the Deccan Herald, reads: “In continuation of the statutory advisory dated July 25, 2012, issued by the Authority, it has been decided to extend the timeline to February 4, 2014, for FBOs (full business operators) seeking conversion/renewal of their existing licences and also for FBOs who have not obtained licences/registrations under the new Act.”
One of the main reasons for such extensions is the shortage of staff. “While the Centre fixes/extends the deadline, it does not mean that all registratons have to happen voluntarily. It is fine if FBOs do it otherwise; it is also our duty to inspect places and register them. But given the shortage, this has not been possible,” a source said.

A designated officer from one of the districts, who is responsible for issuance of licences and registration, said: “Given the kind of shortage we have, we have no choice but to concentrate on easily perishable items, as there is maximum quality issues there.”

Many vacancies

V  V Patil, food safety commissioner, Karnataka, while conceding that there is severe shortage of staff, said that an executive order has been passed recently to fill the vacancies.

“There is a problem, but we will have to work around it,” he said. According to Patil, there is a basic requirement of 210 food safety officers (FSOs) across the 30 districts in Karnataka of which only 84 have been recruited. In Belgaum, for example, there are 10 taluks but only four FSOs, a source said, without revealing the figures for Bangalore.

Further, the 30 designated officers are on additional charge. “We will also be recruiting full-time designated officers soon,” Patil said.