Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (“FSSAI”) in a Gazette Notification dated 27th August, 2020 has issued draft regulations to amend the Food Safety and Standards (Organic Foods) Regulation, 2017 (“Regulations”).
The Notification also invites objections / suggestions which may be addressed to the Chief Executive Officer, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India, Food and Drug Administration Bhawan, Kotla Road, New Delhi – 110002 or sent on e-mail at regulation@fssai.gov.in by 29th October, 2020.
The draft amendments are as follows –
• The Regulations will be called the Food Safety and Standards (Organic Foods) Amendment Regulations, 2020 and it will come in force with effective date for implementation to be either 1st January or 1st July subject to a minimum of 180 days from the date of their final publication in the official Gazette.
• In Regulation 4 for “Applicability of the systems”, after sub-regulation (2), the following will be inserted –
“(3) Aggregators or Intermediaries who collect organic food from small original producer or producer organization and sell it to the end consumer directly are exempted from the provisions of the systems referred in sub-regulation (1). They shall maintain records of traceability and comply with the provisions of anyone of the systems mentioned in sub Regulations (1). Such products shall not carry Food Safety and Standard Authority of India’s organic logo.”
• In Regulation 5 for “Labelling”, after sub-regulation (2), the following will be inserted –
“(3) In-conversion products under PGS-India may be labelled as ‘PGS-Green’ and may also be labelled as “In-conversion to organic”. Conversion products under NPOP may be labelled as “In-conversion to organic’ and shall mention the year of conversion. Such In-conversion products shall not carry Food Safety and Standard Authority of India’s organic logo.”
Source : Food Safety and Standards Authority of India
