Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has requested Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to urgently convene a meeting of all Chief Ministers to ascertain their views regarding implementation of provisions of Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006. He sought Prime Minister's indulgence in keeping the implementation of the provisions of the Act under abeyance till the issues are fully resolved.
Chouhan said that provisions of the Act need reconsideration as they are impractical and cannot be implemented. He said that small business operators have been adversely hit on account of the stringent provisions of the Act. Unable to cope with the high benchmarks prescribed, which in some cases are impractical, most will be forced to close their businesses.
Chouhan brought to the notice of the Prime Minister extreme hardships being faced by very small food business operators (FBOs) in Madhya Pradesh. He said that entire country is facing similar problems on account of promulgation of the provisions of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006.
The Chief Minister said that the State Government is deeply concerned and conscious of the need to provide safe food to the people. However, in doing so, it would not be appropriate to treat all categories of FBOs by the same yardsticks of registration.
The Chief Minister said that another impractical provision is that the Act treats unprocessed commodities such as food grains, on the same footing as processed, packaged or cooked and ready to consume items. This has resulted in traders refusing to purchase food grains from farmers. Chouhan said that he is aware of the observations of the Supreme Court on the issue of food safety and standards.
However, it is necessary that the Central Government place the facts in the correct perspective before the court. If this is done the court would take a reasonable view in the matter.
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