The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has issued a notification requiring all State/ U.T. Licensing Authorities to follow the standardized list of documents for grant of FSSAI licence. This notification was issued on 31st August 2020.
The notification covers the following issues:
Licensing Authorities must refrain from requesting for additional documents
The FSSAI had, by a letter dated 22nd November 2019, advised Central and State Licensing Authorities to refrain from seeking additional and irrelevant documents in the application process for obtaining licences. It had pointed out that such requests lead to harassment and delay in the processing of applications.
It is now categorically stated that all Licensing Authorities must uniformly follow the Kind of Business (KoB) –wise documents that are already uploaded on the homepage of Food Licensing and Registration System (FLRS) and Food Safety Compliance System (FoSCoS). The link for these documents is: https://foscos.fssai.gov.in/assets/docs/KoBwiseDocumentsrequiredforLicense.pdf
Furthermore, it is pointed out that the requirement of uploading a signed copy of the Application for Registration (Form A) and the Application for License (Form B) has been dispensed with. Therefore, all applicants must mandatorily upload all documents as self-attested by the authorised signatory or proprietor.
The Authority reiterates that Designated Officers or Food Safety Officers must desist from insisting on the submission of documents that are beyond the prescribed list. Any such unnecessary insistence will attract strict vigilance action against the concerned authority.
Circumstances when Request for Additional Documents may be permitted
However, a local authority/ State/ U.T. may require the submission of additional documents as a pre-requisite to the grant of a FSSAI License. In such cases, this requirement must be communicated to the public through a public order by a competent authority / Commissioner of Food Safety.
The FSSAI reveals that so far, only Goa and Chandigarh have sent public orders in this regard and these have been uploaded on FoSCoS.
Consultations on the Requirement of NOC from Central Ground Water Authority (CGWA)
The FSSAI indicates that the requirement of NOC from the CGWA as a pre-condition for FSSAI Licensing/ Registration is not uniform across the country. It is observed that this requirement interferes with the timely grant of licences/ registrations. The FSSAI has therefore decided to initiate consultations regarding this requirement. Hence, it seeks comments from the general public, in this respect, at the earliest.
