How to Avoid Delay in Getting FSSAI License?

Narendra Kumar

12 Jan, 2021

The FSSAI License brought into being by The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India established under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 that integrates rules and regulations to ensure the food produced in various food production units are fit for human consumption. These production units can be manufacturers, storage units, transporters, retailers, marketers, distributors, petty food retailers etc. Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India, the administrative authority who supervises food related issues, implemented FSSAI License for food business operators.

Small scale food businesses in need to operate their businesses require FSSAI Registration. The following group of FBOs needs FSSAI Registration:

• FBOs having maximum turnover of Rs. 12 lakhs
• Petty food vendors and retailers
• Self owned/manufactured food businesses
• Temporary food vendors
• Religious or social gatherings who distribute food
• Small scale or cottage industries dealing in the below mentioned chart:

Who needs FSSAI License?

People or entities who wish to start their businesses in food sector have to obtain FSSAI License in order to carry any food related business. Entities need FSSAI License depending upon the eligibility and the type of business they wish to run. Based on that, there are two types of FSSAI License. Let’s discuss about it using the table given below;

FSSAI Regional Offices functioning all over the nation issues the Central License and can be issued and renewed for a period of 1 to 5 years.

Each state has a concerned state authority to issue the State license to businesses like manufacturers, storage units, transporters, retailers, marketers, distributors etc.

How to get FSSAI License?

Here given are the steps to obtain the FSSAI License by the food business owners:

• First the applicant has to submit Form A to Food & Safety department.
• The Food & Safety department may accept or reject the application. The department also intimates the applicant in written. This process takes seven days.
• The Food & Safety department issues a registration certificate if the application is accepted.
• After the completion of these steps the applicant receives the license.

Reason why the license gets delayed

According to the discussion held by the FSSAI Authority the main reason why the food business operators face delay in getting FSSAI License are here as under:

• The food license gets delayed because lots of applications are left unaddressed by the Designated Officer (DO).
• And, a numerous applications are sent back to the FBOs because they fail to reply to the queries put up by Licensing Authority within 30 days.

10 Tips to avoid delay in FSSAI License

Here are the tips to avoid the delay in receiving the FSSAI License. Let’s discuss these one by one:

• Select the suitable kind of food business
• Select the right kind of Food Product Categorization Code
• Upload correct documents
• Find your eligibility for license/registration, according to your type of business
• Be ready for the inspection of your food business
• Know the mandatory conditions of food business license
• Know about all payment modes and the treasury heads
• Nominate a technical person for supervision of production process
• Nominate a person for following the conditions of the license
• Keep in handy a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from Central Ground Water Authority (CGWA) in the case where ground water is used for food processing

When to renew FSSAI License?

Food businesses need food license to operate. They can choose the tenure of the license according to their preference which can be from 1 to 5 years, but to avoid penalty food business operators need to renew their license occasionally. They need to renew their license 120 days after the expiry of license.

How to renew FSSAI License after expiry?

The steps to follow to renew the FSSAI License are here as under

• Visit FSSAI official government site.
• Login with username and password
• Click on apply for renewal for license/registration.
• Select from the list and click proceed
• A warning massage appears on the screen stating “Are you sure you want to apply for renewal of the license”. Click ok
• Upload required documents
• Review the form and click on submit

Conclusion

The food we consume should be safe to consume and healthy. The FSSAI License grants permission which ensures the food that is produced in units like manufacturing units, import/export units, restaurants, or petty food vendors is safe.

The food safety and standards authority^[1] is the administrative authority running under the Government of India who is responsible for food safety and therefore it forms rules and regulations that fortify food safety. 

Read our article:Major Difference Between Registration and License from FSSAI

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