The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), in a representation to health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) chairperson K Chandramouli, demanded that that the due date for filing returns also be extended by a year.
“It is to be noted that the deadline to meet such obligations expires on May 31, 2013. It is estimated that nearly more than a crore food business operators (FBOs) in the country will be affected,” the communication by the traders' body added.
The last date for FBOs to register anew or obtain licenses under the Food Safety and Standards Act (FSSA), 2006, or renew the existing ones or transfer from the old registrations/licenses to the new ones has already been extended by a year (from February 4, 2013 to February 4, 2014).
“The deadline for registration/licenses, renewal or transfer was extended appreciating the difficulties of the FBOs as well as those of the administrative machinery, but the position is the same today,” CAIT added.
“When the government extended the deadline, the last date for filing of returns should also have been extended, because registration is always the pre-condition for filing returns. Therefore, the date of filing returns must also be extended,” the traders' body added.
As per Regulation 2.1.13 of the Food Safety and Standards (Licensing Business) Regulation, 2011, it is binding on every licensee to submit the returns in Form D-1, as provided in Schedule-2 in respect of each class of food at the end of the financial year before March 31 every year.
And if there is any delay in filing returns beyond May 31 each year, there is a provision for a penalty of Rs 100 per day of delay in Regulation 2.1.13 (3) of the Food Safety and Standards (Licensing Business) Regulation, 2011.
No comments:
Post a Comment