Food Importers meet FSSAI Chairman with concerns, assured of early resolution

Food Importers meet FSSAI Chairman with concerns, assured of early resolution

A delegation led by Amit Lohani, Founder and Director of the Forum of Indian Food Importers (FIFI), the apex body representing food importers across India, met Ashish Bahuguna, the newly appointed Chairman of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India, on September 1. "We presented him with various concerns of the trade and the ambiguity faced by FIFI members and sought his suggestions to the issues raised by us," informed Lohani about the purpose of the meeting. 

As a forum for international foods importers, FIFI has been working very closely with FSSAI since its inception to evolve better understanding of food laws and create healthy trade environment for compliance. Over the years, imported products have also encouraged the Indian food industry to develop and manufacture food products matching international standards.

The major concerns voiced by the FIFI delegation at the meeting with the FSSAI chairman were chiefly about the issues related to FFAI norms. Members of the delegation comprising V.N. Dalmia of Dalmia Continental, Rajneesh Bhasin of Borges International, Rakesh Banga of Farmland Foods and Uday Chugh of Vriddhi Specialty flagged off trade concerns related to: 

Clarity on Food Code and CODEX: FIFI members expressed the view that the trade feels that since Product Approval is no longer part of the process after being struck off by the Supreme Court recently, the norms and guidelines of the Indian Food Code should now be followed. With more than 4,000 categorizations of products, the IFC norms are extensive enough to cover in its ambit almost all the products imported in India. Members impressed upon Bahuguna to follow the IFC norms for import clearances. "This would come as a massive relief from the current ambiguity in trade after the PA clause was struck off by the Supreme Court," was the collective view of the delegation. 

According to the press note issued by FIFI on the outcome of the meeting, Bahuguna assured the delegation of resolving this issue and put in place guidelines for a more transparent process to facilitate trade. Members felt that he was very positive on the early resolution of the ambiguity on the matter. 

Labeling concerns: FIFI members highlighted their concerns on getting the NOC from FSSAI. "Due to minor errors / deficiencies in labeling, sampling is not done and the consignment languishes awaiting clearance and NOC from FSSAI," pointed out the delegation. 

The suggestion put forward was that any minor deficiency should be viewed sympathetically and the importer should be given the permission to re-label the product. It was put forward that keeping in view the approved granted by the High courts in several such cases, the order of destruction or re-export should only be used for products which fail the basic safety aspects for human consumption. 

In his reply, Bahuguna is reported to have stated that there are a few judgments in favour of relabeling but there has also been one judgment favouring the FSSAI’s point of view. "We are trying to understand the legal ramifications on the subject," is what Bahuguna told the delegation. 

FBO Licence: Members expressed their anguish over delay and red tape in obtaining the licence. "The whole process of granting licence smacks of the abuses rampant in the days of License Raaj. Officers ask for favours and minor mistakes are blown out of proportion," pointed out the delegation. 

It was therefore suggested that the primary domain of FSSAI should be FBO registration and not licensing, which encourages corruption. The focus should be on traceability of the FBO and the safety of food article sold by him. Annual renewal of licence should be discontinued and a one-time registration process should be initiated. 

The delegation, in its release, said that it was happy to note that the Chairman absolutely and unequivocally supported our concern. "He assured us that this would be resolved and that there is no reason why documents are required during the renewal of licences. 

SOP of Import: It was pointed out by the delegation that custom duty before the withdrawal of samples at certain ports is at the discretion of officers. The minimum time taken for withdrawal of samples is two days, which sometime exceeds to more than five days. After the withdrawal of samples, getting the receipt of the test results takes an average of 10-12 days from the date of sampling. Even the process of sample withdrawn in Delhi is different than that in Mumbai, resulting in delay in clearance. It was pointed that whereas officers in Mumbai do not ask for the delivery order (received from shipping line post customs clearance) for sample withdrawal, delivery order is asked for in Delhi. 

It was suggested that the FSSAI should maintain process parity at all ports. The total time frame for withdrawal of samples till the delivery of test results should not exceed five days. In the case of any delay, the importer should be allowed to take the shipment out on an indemnity bond. It was also brought to light that the cost of delay causes loss to the consumers to the tune of Rs 15,000 daily on account of demurrages and detentions, which is borne by foreign shipping lines. 

The delegation was assured that FSSAI was aware of this concern and was in the process of issuing clarity on SOP of import clearances so as to bring more parity at different ports. 

Other issues related to the timeframe for sampling, testing, etc, and on having a negative ingredients list were also raised. The meeting, according to members of the delegation, was fruitful and productive and raised expectations of a quick resolution of all the major concerns articulated by FIFI. "This was one of the most positive meetings we have had in FSSAI since VN Gaur’s time. The Chairman listened and clarified on all our concerns and gave positive feedback on issues raised by us," said Lohani.