NEW DELHI: Amid panic in the $250 billion domestic food industry after the Maggi recall, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has fast-tracked the processing of applications, for either approval or rejection.
Contrary to food industry players' claim about high number of pending approvals, data released by the regulator shows number of pending cases has come down from over 3,000 in August last year to 1,058 by June-end.
The regulator has uploaded the status of the applications as on June 30, in a move to counter the charges of private players. It covers both applications received under manual and online mode. "We are trying our level best to process the applications fast. The products are approved or have been referred to scientific panels, closed or rejected as soon as it is possible," said a top functionary in FSSAI.
Soon after the NDA government had come to power, many industry players had lodged complaints with the Prime Minister's office, alleging that the regulator was sitting on applications for long.
Sources said the pending cases had piled up between May and August 2014 because of an order of Mumbai High Court. However, the order was vacated by the Supreme Court in August.
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