Food Safety and Compliance System (FoSCoS)| Objectives and Services

In order to ensure that the business of food companies continues with ease, the FSSAI(Food and Safety and Standards Authority of India) decided to launch the Food Safety and Compliance System(FoSCoS). The notification by the FSSAI also indicated that the Food Safety and Compliance System(FoSCoS) will be replacing the pre-existing Food Licensing and Registration System(FLRS). This is an upgraded version of online food safety compliance platform which is cloud based and is aimed at providing multiservice like license granting and FBO registrations and other compliance services for Food Business Operators.

The overview of the FSSAI Notification

The FSSAI has upgraded the FLRS to Food Safety and Compliance System(FoSCoS) in order to make services of food businesses easier and better for FBOs.

• In the first phase, the Food Safety and Compliance System(FoSCoS) will be launched in Gujarat, Goa, Delhi, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Chandigarh, Puducherry and Ladakh.
• The pre-existing Food licensing and Registration System will be replaced by the Food Safety and Compliance System(FoSCoS). So, the users will have to log in to the official website of the Food Safety and Compliance System(FoSCoS) by using the same user IDs and passwords for any of the services.
• Those FBOs who have the licence of the Indian Railways Premises and the other concerned authorities have to operate under the FLRS until further announcements are made.
• The FBOs will receive consumer grievances all around India and will have to respond to these at FLRS in a time-bound manner.

The Food Safety and Compliance System(FoSCoS) Objectives

The main aims of the Food Safety and Compliance System(FoSCoS) are listed below:

• In order to create a food safety compliance matrix district-wise and a state-wise for the nation
• Food Safety and Compliance System(FoSCoS) was launched in order to create a verification platform for food safety compliances
• In order to reduce the time for action initiation and process of inspection
• In order to build a transparent system within the framework of inspection
• In order to create a inspection report validating and authenticating platform
• In order to ensure that the inspections are performed without any deviations
• The process that is framed in the Food Safety and Compliance System(FoSCoS) will be responsible for initiating a Quick Response during the emergencies of Food Safety.

Enhanced features of Food Safety and Compliance System(FoSCoS)

The new and enhanced features of the Food Safety and Compliance System(FoSCoS) are listed below:

1. Enhanced speed of processing in addition to higher capacity of handling user traffic and a scalable system architecture which is capable of supporting future upgrades and addition of modules.
2. The Food Safety and Compliance System(FoSCoS) is the most adequate compliance portal for food safety which is aimed to support the integration with other applications of FSSAI.
3. In order to shift the paradigm in Manufacturing Licensing with the Standardise Product selection instead of entering the information in text boxes.
4. It has a user-friendly home page which is self-intuitive and gives an intelligent search option for the eligibility criteria of License and Standardised products.
5. Provides a new module to file online annual returns instead of sending them manually.
6. For seamless operations, the Food Safety and Compliance System(FoSCoS) has inspection reports.
7. KoB(Kind of Business) specific list of all the necessary documents needs to be uploaded of all the earlier mentioned 29. Also, the online declarations based on tick-box do not require any signed documents.
8. Clear segregations have been made in the Food Safety and Compliance System(FoSCoS).
9. New and improved menu lists and dashboards for the Licencing and Registering Authorities have been aligned with different stages of Application and Related pendency.

Offered Services

The services provided by the Food Safety and Compliance System(FoSCoS) to various FBOs are listed below:

1. Registration for petty FBOs
2. Licences for restaurants
3. Licenses for manufacturing of Food in addition to Modification and Renewal
4. Endorsement of Fortified food products is provided on licencing or registering
5. Quarterly returns are provided to exporters
6. Transference of Licences
7. Licence for Proprietary Food
8. Responding to a Reverted Application
9. Organic food product endorsement
10. Surrender of licences
11. Mid-day meal licence, e-commerce licence, Airport and Seaport licence
12. Supporting importers and food product exporters
13. Supporting the business Head Office

Food Safety and Compliance System(FoSCoS) process for Granting a Licence for Manufacture

The new Food Safety and Compliance System(FoSCoS) platform also has the same flow as the earlier platform of FLRS. But, the licence will now be issued on the basis of a list of standardised products. This is a new approach for licensing and is only applicable to manufacturers of specified products.

The manufacturing of nutraceuticals, supplements, proprietary foods and substances that are added to food products should follow the same process as described in the FLRS. And, all the other kinds of food businesses like transport, catering and storage have to follow the approach based on a broad category as per the FLRS.

Annual Return Filing

In addition to the provision of a food safety compliance platform, the Food Safety and Compliance System(FoSCoS) also has a provision to file annual returns on an online platform. The annual return of the year 2019-2020 can be easily filed online via Food Safety and Compliance System(FoSCoS).

Fee Structure for registration of Food Business

The fee structure for registering a food business is discussed below:

1. The fee for manufacturing licence may vary from Rs. 2000 to Rs. 7500 a year.
2. The fee for Registration certificate is Rs. 100 a year.
3. The fee for modification of the licence is Rs. 1000 and for registration is Rs. 100.
4. The fee for renewing the licence and certificate is the same as the fee for a new registration or a new licence.

Documents required

The documents required for the registration are:

1. A production unit photograph
2. A blueprint plan of the processing unit which shows the dimensions in square metres and the allocation of area on the basis of operation.
3. A list of all the directors along with their address and contact details.
4. A list of equipment and machines in addition to the number, the horse power used and the installed capacity.
5. An analysis report of the water that will be used for making the food from a recognized laboratory.
6. A Photo ID and address proof of the proprietor/partner/ director.
7. Proof of possession of the land/area.
8. A copy of the certificate that was obtained under the coop-act-1861 or the multi coop-act-2002 for a cooperative.
9. A partnership deed or a self declaration of proprietorship or a memorandum of articles of association towards the firm’s constitution.
10. The source of milk that will be used along with its location.
11. Form IX

Documents for a new registration:

1. The applicant’s photograph
2. A government issued photo ID like Aadhaar or PAN
3. An address proof of business activity

Documents for Modification or Renewal of License:

1. Change in those documents that are provided at the time of the grant of the earlier food business licence
2. A certificate of the adopted Food Safety Management System
3. A medical fitness certificate of all the employees who are engaged in the firm
4. All the information about the technical personnel who are in charge of the operation.

Process of User Registration

The FBO has to visit the official website of the Food Safety and Compliance System(FoSCoS) and click on sign in on the top right corner of the homepage.

Once the FBO clicks on sign in, he will be redirected to a page for sign up. The FBO will have to enter all the required details like the mobile number, password, email ID, login ID, name and then click on “Sign up”.

Then, the FBO will receive a verification code on his/her registered email and mobile number. The FBO has to enter the verification in the given box and click on submit to verify.

Once the sign up is successful, the FBO will be able to enter the system by using his/her username or password.

Application Renewal Process

The FBOs have to submit a renewal request in order to renew their pre-existing  licence or registration by using the renewal tab. The renewal application should be submitted within 120 days and at least 30 days before the expiry date of the license.

Conclusion

In this blog, we learnt about the Food Safety and Compliance System(FoSCoS) and the new and enhanced features provided by the Food Safety and Compliance System(FoSCoS). We also discussed the services that are offered to the FBOs by the Food Safety and Compliance System(FoSCoS) and the document required to register oneself with the Food Safety and Compliance System(FoSCoS) portal and the documents that are required to do so.