FSSAI Rules for Food Business? How to Avail Food License

Any individual who is involved in the manufacturing, producing, packaging, processing, transportation and distribution and storage of food items or products has to mandatorily acquire an FSSAI License. Once the registration has been performed, a copy of the FSSAI must be placed at a notable place within the premises of the business. All the FBOs in India must follow the FSSAI Rules and have to obtain an FSSAI Licence or a Food Business License.

Food Business Licences

Any entity who wishes to start a food business has to mandatorily acquire a food business licence or the FSSAI registration. The three kinds of registrations/ licences under the FSSAI are listed below:

• State Government- Food Business License
• State Government- Food Business Registration
• Central Government- Food Business License

Process to get a Food Business License

In order to obtain a Food business licence, the applicant must submit the Application in Form B via the FoSCos portal as per the eligibility criteria in addition to the specified registration fees. The application for a food business licence should contain a self-attested FSSAI declaration and all the other required documents.

Once the application has been submitted on the FoSCos portal, a unique Application Number ID will be provided to the applicant. This ID will be used in order to track and submit any additional documents or information that is requested by the assessing Officer. If any additional documents are needed, then a query will be generated by the FSSAI processing officer.

If all the submitted information is accepted, then the FSSAI officer will issue the applicant the certificate of FSSAI registration. This certificate of registration should be showcased or displayed by the food business.

Food Business License: Validity and Renewal

On the basis of the amount of fee paid, the validity period of the food business licence may vary from 1 to 5 years. In order to renew the food business licence, a person has to file Form A or Form B before 30 days of the date of expiry of the registration. If any renewal application is filed after the expiry date, will have to pay a late fee of Rs. 100 per day for each delayed day. Lastly, if the food business licence expires, then the FBO should stop all business activities at the premises. Therefore, it is quite important for all FBOs in order to keep a track of the food business licence and ensure its validity.

Updating Details of FSSAI

All the FBOs have to inform the authorities of FSSAI regarding any sort of changes or modifications in the food business activities. Also, it is necessary that only the products indicated in the food business licence are produced in the unit. Also, the food business licence must grant access to the Licensing Authorities to the premises of the food business if there are any requests.

Issuing a food business licence related to the Premises

• The food business licence is based on premise. A single food business licence can be issued for all the business activities in the same premise.
• A food business licence is also needed for the FBOs who manufacture food items for export purposes or for domestic purposes under the heads “Export” and “Manufacturing” respectively.
• The Railways Designated Officers or Registering Authorities are responsible for issuing a food business licence for food premises that are under Railways.
• The Airport Health Officers or Port Health Officers are responsible for issuing the food business licence for food premises that are at Airports or Sea Ports.
• In case  the food business of an FBO is situated in two or more states, then he will need to obtain a central license for each unit or premise for his registered office. The food business licence needs to be obtained from the licensing authorities for each premise on the basis of the capacity of the unit.

Food Business Licence Cancellation or Suspension

An improvement notice will be sent to the FBO if the FBO is unable to abide by the sanitary and hygiene guidelines. In the notice, the FBO will be provided a period of not less than 14 days in order to improve the premise conditions.

If the FBO still fails to improve the conditions of the premise, then his food business license will be cancelled. The FBO will not get any compensation for the license cancellation and will have to terminate the business immediately. The FBO can apply for a new food business licence after at least 3 months from the cancellation date after he has fulfilled the improvement requirements mentioned in the notice.

If the food business license is revoked or suspended, then the FBO should immediately stop all the food business activities. In case the FBO continues food business activities on a suspended or cancelled food business licence, then he will have to face penalties under the FSS Act, 2006.

Food Business Licence Modifications

1. An FBO can keep his existing food business license when he changes his premise address by filing an application of Modification on the FoSCoS portal with the fee of modification.
2. The food business license under Importer KoB is only applicable for importing food items inside the country. In order to carry out other food business activities of the imported food product, the FBOs will have to validate all the relevant categories of Kinds of Business in the food business license that was issued by applying for a modification.
3. Those manufacturers who have applied for licences of numerous food products and face some sort of query in some of the food products, then they can delete such problematic products from the application to ensure faster processing. The deleted food products can be added later on by a modification of the licence by paying a modification fee of Rs. 1000.

Renewing a Food Business License after Expiry

It is possible for a food business operator to renew his food business license even after its date of expiry after facing the following penalties:

1. Three times the pre-existing annual fee of licence or registration in the time period from 1st day to the 90th day from the actual date of expiry.
2. An additional fee which is two times the pre-existing annual fee of registration or licence in the time period from 91st day to the 180th day from the actual date of expiry.

Conclusion

In this blog, we came across the Food business licence and the rules set by the FSSAI regarding it. We came to know in detail about the food business licenses and the process to get it. We also learnt about the validity period of a food business licence and the conditions for its renewal and the process to update the FSSAI details. We learnt about the issuing of a food business license which is related to the premise of the food business. We discussed in detail the suspension, cancellation and modification of the food business license and its renewal after the date of expiry.