Vijay Sardana

1
Food Safety Standards Bill 2005 - Implication
Challenges -

• Vijay Sardana
• ED-CITA, New Delhi
• sardana.vijay_at_gmail.com

2
Objective

• To establish Food Safety and Standards Authority
  of India
• Science based Standards
• To regulate their manufacture, storage,
  distribution, sale and import.
• To ensure availability of safe and wholesome food
  for human consumption and matters connected
  therewith and incidental thereto.

3
Preliminary

• This Act may be called the Food Safety and
  Standards Act, 2005 (FSSA, 2005)
• It extends to the whole of India.
• It is hereby declare that it is expedient in the
  public interest and the Union should take under
  its control the food industry.
• What about production?

4
Definitions Some Examples

• Conflicting
• (a) adulterant water
• (u) Hazard w.r.t (g) Contaminant
• (s) FSMS is a international Standards under ISO-
  22000 with different scope
• (zz) Unsafe Food
• Inadequate
• (f) Consumer What about food service sector?
• (j) Medicinal Plant vs. Products, Herbs (Mint,
  Ginger, etc.)
• Unscientific
• (j) Food - GM Foods are permitted without
  evaluating food safety aspects.
• Contaminants, Food Additives and Food Ingredients

5
Food Safety Authority of India

• A good development if established with
  professionals with integrity, knowledge and
  commitment.
• There must be accountability for the officials
  of the authority to deliver decision in time
  bound manner
• In case of emergency a fee-stricture should be
  introduced to get time bound decision.
• In case, the authority do not accept the
  scientific factors and give a arbitrary
  decisions, how industry can seek remedies.
• Representation must be fair and uniform and no
  individual, including chairperson, should be
  above science.

6
General Provisions as to Articles of Food

• Section -21 Residues in food not permitted but
  definition of contaminant permits the same.
• Please note that there is no technology to remove
  residues once they are part of basic raw material
  and added by producers.
• Genetically Modified Foods and Additives will be
  a serious area of concern and conflict between
  consumers and manufacturers or traders. What is
  the mechanism to ensure food safety. It should be
  notified.

7
Enforcement of the Act

• Lacks transparency and accountability
• Lack of competent human resource will make it
  worse
• If law believes in professionalism, in that case
  any laboratory which is used to evaluate the
  quality of food and that is used as evidence
  against manufacture must be NABL certified and or
  by any other agency not part of the ministry
  which is responsible for the implementation of
  the Act.
• To ensure transparency, food poisoning and
  rejection cases be reported. There must be weekly
  report on alerts like in EU, USA, and other
  countries.

8
Offences and Penalty

• Law is only explaining Powers of Food Safety
  Officers, in detail. What are the Responsibility
  and duties of Food safety Officers are missing in
  the act?
• What is the accountability of Food Laboratories
  testing the product in case the results are wrong?

9
Impact on Food Industry- Time to Think and
Analyze -

• Cost of Production - will increase or go down?
• Impact on transaction costs will increase or go
  down?
• Impact on new product development time lag will
  increase or go down?
• Investment required for food quality
  infrastructure who will fill the gap?
• Can SSIs survive with requirements of new food
  laws?
• What about Human Resource development those who
  understand new technical requirements of
  specified under the law?

10
Open for discussion