FNB News - “FSSAI has signed MoU with 11 countries/ food authorities”

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INTERVIEW

“FSSAI has signed MoU with 11 countries/ food authorities”

Monday, 30 December, 2024, 08 : 00 AM [IST]

As the country enters 2025, the food safety ecosystem gears up for another challenging year. FSSAI CEO GKV Rao in an interaction with Ashwani Maindola elaborates on the food safety ecosystem of the country. Excerpts:

How the work related to standards & regulations aligning with global best practices being taken forward?

The Food Authority’s major scientific arms are the Scientific Committee (SC) and Scientific Panels (SPs). Both these bodies provide the necessary scientific opinion and assist in development of standards through a well-defined process. The scientific bodies play a crucial role in supporting national positions with solid scientific evidence, thereby ensuring that food standards are not only safe and effective but also aligned with national interests.
Whole standard setting process in FSSAI draws inspiration from the approach adopted by the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC) and is in alignment with the standard setting process of CAC. The regulatory stance of regulatory bodies like USFDA, EFSA, Health Canada, FSANZ etc. are also considered while framing the standard.

The draft regulation, approved by MoHFW, is notified for inviting comments from stakeholders including World Trade Organization (WTO) member countries for a period of 60 days.

Post the draft notification period, the comments are compiled and segregated into administrative and technical comments. While the food authority considers the administrative comments, the technical comments are placed before the concerned SP for deliberation and recommendation to incorporate changes, if any. Once, the changes or otherwise are recommended by the SP, the SC reviews/ examines and recommends it for the approval of the food authority followed by vetting by the Ministry of Law and Justice and final approval by the MoHFW for final notification of the standard/regulation. Once approved and notified, the standard becomes legally compliable and mandatory

What is the focus area for FSSAI where work has already started to make sure consumers get safe food?
FSSAI is fully committed to ensure the availability of safe food products to the consumers across the country. To achieve this, regular surveillance, monitoring, inspection and random sampling of various food products are conducted throughout the year by the officials of Food Safety Departments of the respective States/ UTs and Regional offices of FSSAI, to ensure compliance with the quality and safety parameters and other requirements as laid down under Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, and regulations made thereunder.

How have been global collaborations by FSSAI and what are the learnings?
FSSAI has signed MoU/MoC / Agreement with 11 other countries/ food authorities. The major areas of collaboration are scientific and technical cooperation in the areas of food safety. Regular meetings / workshops / seminars have been conducted with the experts / authority of these countries to discuss various aspects related to food safety. The main thrust areas of collaboration have been MRL, laboratory ecosystem, import procedure and risk management, standard setting etc.

International Alignment with Codex
India has been a member of Codex Alimentarius Commission since 1964 and contributes to the international food standards development process. Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is the National Codex Contact Point for India. The primary functions of the NCCP include preparing national responses to Codex matters, facilitating participation in Codex meetings, and promoting Codex activities in India in collaboration with the NCCP. The NCCP advises the government on food standardisation, safety issues, and ensures that India’s national interests are represented in international food standards discussions which has also a linkage with Scientific Panels under FSSAI.

GFRS (Global Food Regulators Summit)

The Global Food Regulators Summit, was organised by FSSAI, from September 20-21, 2024, at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi. Building on the success of the 2023 summit, which was co-hosted with India’s G20 Presidency, GFRS 2024 aimed to further solidify global regulatory cooperation in food safety. This summit underscored a continuing commitment to strengthening food safety frameworks worldwide through collaboration, dialogue, and innovation. As a key platform for international engagement, the Global Food Regulators Summit facilitates the exchange of knowledge and perspectives among regulators, fostering a unified approach to enhancing food safety systems and regulatory frameworks globally.

Main objectives of the Summit were:

To facilitate the exchange of information on regulatory and safety requirements for food products across various regions.
To foster a common dialogue on key areas such as food safety, the harmonisation of standards-setting processes, risk assessment, data generation and sharing, analytical proficiency, labelling, development of mutual capacity-building programmes.
To provide stakeholders in the food value chain—including food manufacturers, processors, exporters, importers, as well as government and non-government officials—with a deeper understanding of food safety and regulatory frameworks in different countries.

How has been the compliance by the food industry?
As per available data, in the year 2023-24, the enforcement and surveillance activities done by the States/UTs has shown 88.26% of compliance.

Do you see need for greater collaboration between FSSAIs and States for a robust food safety ecosystem?
FSSAI already works closely with States/UTs through its Central Advisory Committee (CAC) meeting, which generally meets on quarterly basis. The Commissioners of Food Safety of States/UTs are members of the CAC and participate to deliberate on various matters related to enforcement activities, strengthening of food safety and laboratory infrastructure, training and capacity building etc.

Since 2016-17, FSSAI has taken a significant step to strengthen food safety ecosystem in the States/UTs, by signing Memorandum of Understanding with the State/UT for providing financial and technical support.