Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (“FSSAI”) has issued an Order dated 24th May 2019, where it has looked into the concern of issuance of FSSAI Licence and Registration, in case of unattended applications.
While the Food Safety and Standards (Licensing and Registration of Food Businesses) Regulations, 2011 (“Regulations”) prescribed a time-period of 60 days and 7 days within which a Food Business Operator (“FBO”) could commence their business in case the license / registration (respectively) is not issued by FSSAI, various representations have been filed before FSSAI stating non-compliance of the above prescribed timelines.
The above issue was taken up before the Central Advisory Committee and the following timeframes have been prescribed for issuance of Licence / Registration, in case of unattended applications before FSSAI:
| Issue of Registration | On the 8th day from when an application is filed, and no action has been taken by the Registering Authority. Registration will be issued to Food Businesses if the Registering Authority has taken no action in the 7days from when the application is submitted. |
| Issue of License | On the 61st day from when the completed application is filed, and no action has been taken by the Licensing Authority, after issuance of Application ID for 60 days. On the 76th day from the date of initial application when the same remains unaddressed in the office of the Designated Officer for 75 days. |
| Rejection of Application | On the 31st day when application send back to FBO. An application is rejected when the FBO fails to reply to the Licensing Authority within 30 days of their query. |
Source : Food Safety and Standards Authority of India
