FSSR among changes in industry; Could generate more employment avenues

The Food Safety and Standards Regulations (FSSR), 2011, is among the changes taking place in the industry. This was stated by experts at a Bangalore Chamber of Industry and Commerce (BCIC) event titled ‘FSSAI 2014: Navigating the Dynamic Regulatory Landscape’, which took place in Bengaluru on November 7, 2014.
The regulatory landscape was being perceived as one that hampered the growth of the small and medium industries. However, the experts pointed out that the regulations would create more new avenues of employment, and entrepreneurs would emerge to guide the industry and train manpower.
The food regulations in India comprise various food policies that have been enacted at varied points of time. These are introduced to complement and supplement each other in achieving total food sufficiency, safety and quality.
“The result is that the food sector in India is governed by a number of different statutes rather than a single comprehensive enactment. If FSSR, 2011, weren’t a part of the change taking place in the food industry, the latter would have been a victim to this change,” said Dr G K Vasanth Kumar, special secretary (retired), food processing and harvest technology, agriculture department, government of Karnataka.
“There is a need to ensure that the 1.2 billion people of India have access to safe food. The world over, there are stringent regulations, mandating the need for farm audits. In India, 70 per cent of the food sector is unorganised and engaged in age-old practices. Most of the products are not upto the mark,” he added.
“Therefore, it is high time the country’s food sector meets the standards. The classic examples are the ban on exports of pomegranates to the United States and mangoes to the European Union (EU),” said Dr Kumar.
“Therefore, the fact that there were no regulations in place resulted in inconsistency. And now with the complex regulatory system, the industry, barring the large players, is not well-integrated, putting an additional burden on the food industry,” he added.
“It is time we look beyond the Green Revolution, and use the existing resources, such as soil, water and manure, in an effective way without harming the environment. There is need for transparency in our processes,” said Dr Kumar.
“FSSR is giving the industry a direction. In the long-run, if systems are put in place, it would also ensure claiming damages,” said Karnataka’s former agriculture special secretary.
“The food industry is indispensable. The sector has no recessionary impact, but there are opportunities to have a wider positive impact in terms of increasing employment, creating entrepreneurship and arming skills in food global trade,” Dr Kumar said.
“Therefore, FSSR is the only way to take the industry to the next level of growth,” he added.
“The need of the hour is safe food, because even the best food can have microbial contaminants. It is extremely vital for the food industry in India to embark on consumer awareness and skill development to ensure compliance with FSSR,” noted Dr Kumar.
Delving on the implications of the regulations, Cynthia Joseph, business development, Equinox Labs, said, “The regulatory structure in food needs an overhaul. Even in case of petty food business operators (FBO) applying for registration, there is a need for stringent supervision and audit across operations in a food industry to remain compliant.”
Vijay D Sattigeri, former director, Central Food Laboratory, CSIR-Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI), Mysore, spoke about the introduction to Codex and alignment strategy with the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).
He said that the compilation of food standards, codes of practice, guidelines and recommendations protected consumers from unsafe food and fraudulent practices. “At the same time, they allow food producers, processors and traders access to markets by breaking down artificial non-tariff barriers to trade,” Sattigeri added.
In his introduction to global food regulations and their implications on exports, Sachin Achintalwar, senior manager, regulatory affairs, AB Mauri, said, “Laws are essentially framed to ensure that consumers’ safety is ensured while consuming the food and also for the industry to have ease in cross-border trade.”
“It would primarily protect consumers from unsafe practices and misleading information. This requires the joint efforts of regulators, the industry and academia,” he added.