The Food Safety and
Standard Authority of India (FSSAI)has
been established under Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 which consolidates various
acts & orders that have hitherto handled food related issues in various Ministries
and Departments. FSSAI has been created for laying down science based standards
for articles of food and to regulate their manufacture, storage, distribution, sale
and import to ensure availability of safe and wholesome food for human consumption.
Highlights of the
Food Safety and Standard Act, 2006
Various central Acts like Prevention
of Food Adulteration Act, 1954 , Fruit Products Order , 1955, Meat Food Products
Order , 1973, Vegetable Oil Products (Control) Order, 1947,Edible Oils Packaging
(Regulation)Order 1988, Solvent Extracted Oil, De- Oiled Meal and Edible Flour
(Control) Order, 1967, Milk and Milk Products Order, 1992 etc will be repealed after
commencement of FSS Act, 2006.
The Act also aims to establish a single
reference point for all matters relating to food safety and standards, by moving
from multi- level, multi- departmental control to a single line of command. To this
effect, the Act establishes an independent statutory authority – the Food
Safety and Standard Authority of India with head office at Delhi. Food Safety and
Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) and the State Food Safety Authorities shall
enforce various provisions of the Act.
Establishment of
the Authority
Ministry of Health & Family Welfare,
Government of India is the Administrative Ministry for the implementation of FSSAI.
The Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer of Food safety and Standards Authority
of India (FSSAI) have already been appointed by Government of India. The Chairperson
is in the rank of Secretary to Government of India.
Duties and functions
of the Authority
FSSAI has been mandated by the FSS
Act, 2006 for performing the following functions:
· Framing of Regulations
to lay down the Standards and guidelines in relation to articles of food and specifying
appropriate system of enforcing various standards thus notified.
·Laying down mechanisms
and guidelines for accreditation of certification bodies engaged in certification
of food safety management system for food businesses.
·Laying down procedure
and guidelines for accreditation of laboratories and notification of the accredited
laboratories.
·To provide scientific
advice and technical support to Central Government and State Governments in the
matters of framing the policy and rules in areas which have a direct or indirect
bearing of food safety and nutrition .
·Collect and collate data
regarding food consumption, incidence and prevalence of biological risk, contaminants
in food, residues of various, contaminants in foods products, identification of
emerging risks and introduction of rapid alert system.
·Creating an information
network across the country so that the public, consumers, Panchayats etc receive
rapid, reliable and objective information about food safety and issues of concern.
·Provide training programmes
for persons who are involved or intend to get involved in food businesses.
·Contribute to the development
of international technical standards for food, sanitary and phyto-sanitary standards.
·Promote general awareness
about food safety and food standards.
Organisational Structure
Chairperson
Member Secretary
Ex-officio Members under
section 5(1)(a)
Smt. Upma Chawdhry, JS (Agriculture)
Sh. Dinesh Sharma, JS (Commerce)
Dr. Sanjay Singh, JS (Consumer Affairs)
Sh.
K.R.Rao, JS (Food Processing)
Sh.
Vineet Chawdhry, JS (Health)
Sh.
N.K.Nampoothiry, JS (Legislative)
Sh.
K.S.Ludu, Addl. Dev Commissioner
(MSME)
Two representatives of Food Industry
From Small Scale Industry
Ms. Mona Malhotra Chopra, All India
Food Processors Association
From Large Industry
Ms. Indrani Kar, Director & Head,
Agriculture and Food Division, Cll
Two representatives of Consumer
Organisations
Mrs. Vasundhara Pramod Deodhar from
Mumbai Grahak Panchayat, Mumbai
Shri Bejon Misra, Acting Director,
Consumer Coordination Council, New Delhi
Three eminent Food Technologists/Scientists
Dr. S. Girija, Integrated Fisheries
Project, Ministry of Agriculture & Cooperation, Cochin
Dr. N.N Varshney, Adv.,NDDB, Anand
Dr. Ms Indira Chakravarty, Ex-Director,
AIIH & Public Health, Kolkata
FIVE REPRESENTATIVES OF STATES
Shri Tape Bagra, Secretary Health,
Govt. of Arunachal Pradesh
Dr.(Smt.) P.Sucharitha Murthy, Director,
Institute of Preventive Medicine, AP from Govt of Andhra Pradesh
Dr S.K. Pal, Dy Director (Health),
A&N Island Adminstration
Smt. Navaraj Sandhu, Commissioner &
Secretary (Health), Govt of Haryana
Shri Shiv Narayana Sahu , Dy. Drugs
Controller, Govt of Bihar
Two Representatives of Farmers'
Organisations
Dr.(Mrs) T.A Kadarbhai , Grapes Growers
Assoc., Pune- Grape Grower
Shri V. Balasubramanium, General Secretary,
Prawn Farmers' Federation of India- Seafood/Fisheries
One Representative of retailer’s
organisations
Shri. Gibson G. Vedamani, CEO, Retailers
Association of India, Mumbai
Bodies under the
Authority
Central Advisory Committee
The central advisory Committee would be notified shortly and once notified, it would
advise the Authority on the work programme, prioritization of work, identifying
potential risks and pooling of knowledge.
Scientific Committee and Scientific Panels
Scientific Panels would consists of experts in areas such as food additives, pesticides
& antibiotics residues, genetically modified organisms & foods biological
hazards, contaminants in the food chains, labeling, methods of sampling etc. The
Chairpersons of the Scientific Panels together with independent scientific experts
who are not part of the scientific panels would comprise the Scientific Committee
which would be the main advisory body within the Authority on matters pertaining
to science. Matters not covered by the Scientific Panels or matters that overlap
due to multi-sectoral implications would be dealt with by the Scientific Committee.
Administrative Structure
of the Authority
The administrative structure of the Authority is headed by a Chief Executive Officer
, who is of the rank of Additional Secretary to Government of India.
Various States have notified their State Food Commissioners who will be Heads of
state level agencies for enforcing the food law and the instructions issued by Authority.
Authority would also designate personnel at Airports, Seaports, Borders and other
entry points where food items that are brought into the country would be regulated
and monitored.
Roadmap for the Authority
The Authority is putting in place various administrative mechanisms to handle the
work and shortly a full scale portal for the Authority and IT infrastructure would
be in place.
The Authority is in the process of finalizing its administrative structure. A framework
of corporation with National Centers for R&D in food science, nutrition and
related disciplines is also being developed to leverage the strengths of these institutions
to support the Authority’s mandate.
The following are some of the steps which are being taken up by the Authority:
1.
Drafting of the Rules and Regulations under section 91 & 92 of
the Act, governing the procedure for working of the Authority and its various panels
and committees.
2.
Finalizing and placing before the Authority procedure for functioning
of Food Safety Authorities in the States.
3.
After the draft procedures are prepared, these will be discussed extensively
with all stake holders to obtain their inputs.
4.
Some critical studies relating to diet surveys, quality upgradation
of food testing labs, and data base for Food Safety Regulation etc. have been entrusted
to national level research and development institutions to aid the Authority to draft standards
& make policy.
5.
The Authority has also initiated a pilot project for upgrading
the safety and quality of food served in eating establishments in Delhi, preparatory
to the Commonwealth Games.
6.
An inter-ministerial group will be set up to draw up an Imported
Food Safety Action Plan.
7.
The staff involved in the implementation of food laws under various
Ministries would be integrated into the structure of the Authority which is being
finalized.
8.
The mechanism for effective consultation on Codex issues would also
be taken up.