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Food Safety and Standards (Food Import) Regulations, 2012 (Draft Regulations)

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F. No. 1/2008/Import Safety/FSSAI:--The following draft Food Safety and Standards (Food Import) Regulations, 2012 which the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) proposes to make, in exercise of the powers conferred by section 92 of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 (34 of 2006), is hereby pre-published for the information of all persons likely to be affected thereby; and notice is hereby given that the said draft regulations shall be taken into consideration after the expiry of a period of thirty days from the date on which copies of the Gazette of India in which this notification is published are made available to the public;

Objections or suggestions, if any, may be addressed to the Chief Executive Officer, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India, FDA Bhavan, Kotla Road, New Delhi-110002

Any objections or suggestions, which may be received from any person with respect to the said draft regulations before the expiry of the period specified, will be considered by the Food Authority.

DRAFT REGULATION

FOOD SAFETY AND STANDARDS (FOOD IMPORT) REGULATIONS, 2012

CHATTER-I

PRELIMINARY

1. Short title and commencement.--

(1) These regulations may be called the Food Safety and Standards (Food Import) Regulations, 2012.

(2) They shall come into force from such date as may be notified by the Food Authority by publication in the Official Gazette.

2. Definitions.--

(1) In these regulations, unless the context otherwise requires,--

  1. "Accredited Food Importer" means a Food Importer so declared by Food Authority under these regulations;

  2. "Act" means the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006;

  3. "Bill of Entry" means the Bill of Entry filed by Importer under the provisions of Customs Act, 1962;

  4. "Custom House Agent (CHA)" means a person licensed under Customs House Agents Licensing Regulations, 2004 to act as agent for the transaction of any business relating to the entry or departure of conveyances or the import or export of goods at any Customs Station;

  5. "Customs Area" means the notified area of a customs station and includes any area in which imported goods or export goods are ordinarily kept before clearance by the Customs Authorities;

  6. "Food Authority" means the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) established under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 as a statutory body;

  7. "FSS Rules" means the Food Safety and Standards & Rules, 2011;

  8. "Food Importer" means a person importing or desirous of importing articles of food into India, who is duly licensed as a Food Importer under the relevant Food Safety and Standards Regulations;

  9. "Inspection Fee" means the fee levied by FSSAI towards direct and indirect cost involved in Inspection Service activities such as examination of pre-arrival documentation, visual inspection, sampling and disposal of application submitted by a Food Importer for Clearance of Food Imports;

  10. "Laboratory analysis fee" is the fee payable towards the testing of Food Samples as per FSS (Laboratory Analysis and Sampling) Regulations, 2011 and Laboratory Analysis Report per sample of food analyzed as specified and reviewed by Food Authority from time to time;

  11. "Licensing Authority" means the Central Licensing Authority as defined in the relevant Food Safety and Standards Regulations;

  12. "No Objection Certificate (NOC)" means a certificate or report issued by the Authorised Officer or any other officer specially designated for the purpose, to the Customs in a manner as prescribed by the Food Authority;

  13. "Notified laboratory" means any of the laboratories notified by the Food Authority under sub-sections (1) and (2) of section 43 of the Act and notified pursuant to the FSS (Laboratory and sampling) Regulations, 2011;

  14. "Packing list" means the itemized list of articles included in each shipping giving the quantity, description, and weight of the individual articles;

  15. "Point of import" means any Customs barrier, either land, sea or air through which food is imported into the country;

  16. "Pre Arrival Document Review (PADR)" means the pre arrival examination of declarations and documents, in respect of the particular food article intended for Import;

  17. "Rejection Report" means a report issued by the Authorised Officer or any other officer specially designated for the purpose, to the Customs in a manner as specified by the Food Authority stating that the imported food article is not in conformance to FSS Act, the FSS Rules and the FSS Regulations;

  18. "Review application fee" means the fee levied by FSSAI towards disposal of review application submitted by Food Importer against the order of Authorised Officer pertaining to clearance of Food Imports;

  19. "Review Officer" means an officer so designated by the Food Authority to review orders passed under these regulations by the Authorised Officer;

  20. "Shelf Life" means

    (a) for primary food and food items not covered by (sub clause b), the period until which the food article is safe for human consumption;

    (b) for processed or packaged food, the time period between the date of manufacture and the "use by date" or "expiry date" or "best before date" whichever is printed on the label;

    (u) "Stuffing list" means a list containing the description of the food articles, and the actual physical arrangement of such food articles inside the container or cartons or pallets or skids, furnished by the Food Importer or his Agent, for the purpose of inspection and collection of samples;

    (v) "Transit Countries List" means the list of countries where the ship carrying the food had docked if the transit was through sea, or where the aircraft carrying the food articles had landed or the countries through which the import consignment had passed if transit was through land;

    (w) "Unclaimed food" means the imported food where Food Importer does not file Bill of Entry or does not claim the food within the time specified by Customs;

    (x) "Uncleared food" means the imported food where the Food Importer does not clear the food within the validity period specified in the No Objection Certificate issued by Food Authority;

    (y) "Vigilance Officer" means an officer so designated by the Food Authority to carry out vigilance function pertaining to food import clearance process;

    (2) The words and expressions used in these regulations and not defined, but defined in the Act shall have the same meanings respectively assigned to them in the Act.

    CHAPTER II

    OFFICERS OF THE FOOD AUTHORITY

    3. Authorised Officer.--

    The Chief Executive Officer of Food Authority in his capacity of Food Safety Commissioner shall, by notification, appoint such persons as he thinks fit, as Authorised Officer for as many Points of Entry as the Food Authority may deem necessary, for the purpose of performing functions under the Act, the rules and the regulations.

    4. Qualifications of the Authorised Officer.--

    The Authorised Officer shall have the same qualifications as of Food Safety Officer defined in the FSS Rules or such additional qualification as may be specified by the Food Authority;

    Provided that on the date of commencement of these regulations, a person who has already been appointed as Port Health Officer under the provision of Food Adulteration Act 1954, may perform the duties of the Authorized Officer, if notified by the Central Government, if the Officer fulfills such conditions as may be specified for the post of Authorized Officer.

    5. Powers and duties of the Authorised Officer.--

    (1) The Authorised Officer shall have the following powers and duties to ensure that the imported articles of food meet the safety standards prescribed under the Act and the FSS Regulations.

    (2) The Authorised Officer shall perform the following duties, namely:-

  21. to carry out inspection of imported food, draw samples of the imported food and transport the same for analysis in appropriate manner wherever required;

  22. to re-seal any package opened for drawl of samples and certify that the same had been opened and sealed by the Food Authority;

  23. to send the samples to a Food Analyst of a notified laboratory for analysis and receive the lab analysis report;

  24. to issue No objection Certificate or Rejection report to the Customs;

  25. to maintain database of Food Importers within the jurisdiction of the Point of Import assigned to him in the format specified by the Food Authority;

  26. to maintain a record of all inspections made and action taken by him in the performance of his duties including the drawl of samples, lab analysis reports received, issue of No objection Certificates, issue of Rejection Report, for food imports within the jurisdiction of Point of entry assigned to him, and to submit copies of such records to the Food Authority;

  27. to make such enquiries and inspections as may be necessary to detect the import of food in contravention of the Act or the Food Safety and Standards Rules and Food Safety and Standards Regulations notified from time to time;

  28. to recommend destruction or re-export of imported food with necessary conditions as he may deem fit;

  29. to recommend to Customs to allow for re-processing within the customs area for those articles of primary food which have exceeded the permissible limits on extraneous matter:

  30. Provided that the Importer submits an undertaking to achieve the permissible limit through reprocessing; and

  31. Provided further that the necessary infrastructure and equipment is available within the Customs Area;

  32. to mandate additional tests on samples of imported food on visual inspection, risk potential and advisories released from time to time by the Food Authority;

  33. to inform the laboratory immediately on receipt of advance notice of arrival of food imports from the Food Importer;

  34. to ensure that notified laboratories maintain lab analysis records in the format prescribed by the Food Authority;

  35. to report to the concerned Licensing Authority on any violation of any licensing conditions by Food Importers.;

  36. to inform the...

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