Camps to register food biz entities

Tirupur: As more than 10,000 unregistered food-related entities in the district are facing the deadline of December 31 for registration or to obtain a licence under the Food Safety and Standards Act, the administration has planned to conduct five camps to reach them.

The first camp will be held at Annapoorna Hotel on Palladam Road on Friday. The entities can submit the required documents and complete the online registration process.

As per recent enumeration conducted by the district food safety and drug administration (FSDA) department, the district has 18,588 entities, including manufacturers, packers, wholesalers, dealers, retailers, hawkers, street vendors, warehouses and transporters in the food industry. As many as 10,303 entities are yet to register.

"So far, 8,285 entities have obtained the licence or registered. The department was creating awareness about it and explained the unregistered entities about the mandate," said K Tamil Selvan, FSDA's designated officer for Tirupur.

"Once they do, it would help the department to keep tab on the food safety. As per the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), each entity should have a food safety supervisor among their employees. The department will provide training on the food safety and standards to them," said Tamil Selvan.

Besides, the department has been conducting meetings with the respective associations to provide education about the food safety.

The fee for the registration is Rs 100 for entities with annual turnover of less than Rs 12 lakh and Rs 2,000 for those who exceed Rs 12 lakh. In case of the food manufacturers, they should pay Rs 3,000 for the licence.