The provisions under
which the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) debar/prohibit
the food articles having required information printed in the form of stickers
on the cover, wrapper or container of the food articles and not printed
directly on the cover/wrapper is given below:
(i) Under Section 3 (z) of Food Safety and
Standards Act, 2006, “label” means any tag, brand, mark, pictorial or other
descriptive matter, written, printed, stencilled, marked, embossed, graphic,
perforated, stamped or impressed on or attached to container.
(ii) Under the Regulation 2.2.1 of the Food
Safety and Standards (Packaging and Labelling) Regulations, 2011, general
requirements, inter-alia, are as under:-
a) Every
pre-packaged food shall carry a label containing information as required
here-under unless otherwise provided, namely-
b) Pre-packaged
food shall not be described or presented on any label or in any labelling
manner that is false, misleading or deceptive or is likely to create an
erroneous impression regarding its character in any respect.
c) Label in
pre-packaged foods shall be applied in such a manner that they
will not become separated from the container.
d) Where the
container is covered by a wrapper, the wrapper shall carry the necessary
information or the label on the container shall be readily legible through the
outer wrapper and not obscured by it.
Hon’ble Madras High
Court has given an order/direction in the case of M/s. Foodlever India Pvt. Ltd.
vs. Senior Inspecting Officer on the matter in the recent past. The
details there of along with the reaction of the Government are given below:
(i) On 08.02.2012, an interim direction was
given by the Learned Single Judge of the Hon’ble High Court of Madras directing
the Senior Inspecting Officer, FSSAI to draw sample of the petitioner’s
imported food products. FSSAI filed a Writ Appeal SR: 20389/2012 before the
Division Bench, against the order dated 08.02.2012.
(ii) On 16.03.2012, the Single Judge gave the
final judgement directing FSSAI to take sample of imported foods of Food Lever
India Pvt. Ltd. and send the same for laboratory testing. FSSAI filed a Writ
Appeal dated 24.04.2012, against the order dated 16.03.2012. Operation of the
single Judge dated 16.03.2012 in W.P. No. 2027 of 2012 was stayed pending
hearing of the appeal by the Division Bench on 25.06.2012.
(iii) Meanwhile, the first Bench on the request
of Food Lever India Pvt. Ltd. vide M.P2 of 2012, gave permission / direction to
the company to re-export the goods subject to the conditions as imposed by the
Customs authorities regarding furnishing of security etc.
(iv) The order passed in Writ Petition No. 2027
of 2012 in the matter of Food Lever India Pvt. Ltd. had not become operational
in view of the Order of Stay granted during the pendency of the Writ Appeal by
the Hon’ble Division Bench. Subsequent to the order of Division Bench,
directing / permitting the Food Lever India Pvt. Ltd. to re-export the imported
food article and the same having been re-exported on the conditions imposed by
the Customs authorities, the very Writ Appeal itself was disposed.
(v) In W.P. No. 19279/2011 of M/s Rajputana Distributers
v/s Deputy Commissioner of Customs and Other, the directions/order dated
23.09.2011 of the Madras High is reproduced below: “As far as the issue in
question is concerned, the goods imported are food products, that too,
chocolates, which are normally consumed by children and the conditions
stipulated with regard to labelling, have admittedly, not been complied with by
the petitioner. Even as per the stand of the learned counsel for the
petitioners, the information furnished is only by way of a sticker. But as per
the provisions of the Act, the label must be an inseparable one, as otherwise,
to suit the convenience; the importer may fill in any information therein. If
the goods imported, especially food products, do not satisfy the specifications
mentioned in the act at the time of import then such goods have to be
restrained from being brought into the market and in the case on hand, the food
products are chocolates, which are normally consumed by children and therefore,
safety measures are mandatory. If the conditions imposed with regard to the
import of food items are violated, then the question of going to the next
stage, i.e. sending them for laboratory testing will not arise at all”.
This view taken by the Hon’ble Madras High Court
has become final and no appeal has been filed against such interpretation given
about labelling process in the above said judgement.
The Order passed in Writ Petition No. 2027 of
2012 in the matter of Food Lever India Pvt. Ltd. had not become operational in
view of the Order of Stay granted during the pendency of the Writ Appeal by the
Hon’ble Division Bench. Subsequent to the Order of Division Bench, directing /
permitting the Food Lever India Pvt. Ltd. to re-export the imported food
article and the same having been re-exported on the conditions imposed by the
Customs authorities, the very Writ Appeal itself was disposed of.
As per the guidelines dated 10.01.2014 issued by
FSSAI in case of import of food articles, the rectifiable defects for which
stickers can be allowed to be pasted even after arrival of consignment under
the supervision of Customs Authorities and before drawl of samples will
continue to be (a) veg./non. Veg. logo; and, (b) importer’s name and address.
In addition, FSSAI license number and the FSSAI logo can also be allowed to be
mentioned by the way of sticker before drawl of the samples in the case of
imported food articles.
The Health Minister was replying to
a question in the Lok Sabha here today.
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MV/BK/LK