UPFDA to tighten its grip on unlicensed, unregistered FBOs

Uttar Pradesh, the State Food and Drug Administration has decided to initiate a drive across the state against unlicensed and unregistered Food Business Operators (FBO). The step is taken to ensure high quality and safety in the state's food business.

One of the officials of the UPFDA informed that FBOs can only operate their business freely if they possess legal license or registration as per the mandate of Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006. Ramaraj Maurya, Additional Commissioner, UPFDA, stated that the state authority had planned a drive and will check if there is any FBO operating without a valid license or registration.

“It has been mandated by the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 that any FBO found operating without a valid license or registration will be penalised,” he added. 

“We will ensure that every FBO operates with a prescribed license or registration as required. For this, we plan to start a drive,” Maurya reiterated. However, he did not specify a timeline for the drive. Last Year, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India has given the deadline of 4th August, 2016 to obtain the license and it has stopped taking the requests after that. The apex body was more keen on educating FBOs about the responsibilities under the act rather than merely providing a license to them.

Commenting on the issue, Pawan Kumar Agarwal, chief executive officer, FSSAI, said, “It is a continuous process, and FSSAI regularly issues directives to the state authorities to make sure that the FBOs operate with valid licenses and registrations.”

“However, no directive has been issued to a particular state. Each state has been given the autonomy to act independently of others. They can take action, including penalising or compounding errant FBOs. The powers have been mentioned in the Act,” he added.

Agarwal said, “To further strengthen the process of licensing and registration, FSSAI plans to use technology-based solutions. For instance, it plans to use mobiles to check whether the licensing and registration regulations are being complied with.”