Shop owners without licence to be nailed
Source: Hueiyen News Service / Maisnam Karnajit

Imphal, November 08 2012: Come January next year, owners of shops and other business establishment selling eatable items and those companies manufacturing food items without registration card or license issued by the Food Safety and Authority of India would have to face the music.

In accordance to the Food Safety and Standard Act, 2006, which is implemented in the State since 2011, owners of shops and other business establishments selling eatable items as well as companies manufacturing food items should posses the required registration card or license given by the Food and Safety Authority of India by August 2011.However, as the owners of most shops/business establishments and companies are unaware of the provisions of the Act, the Govt of Manipur has extended the deadline for acquiring the registration card and license till January 2013 .

business establishment selling eatable items

According to the guidelines of the Act, if an individual is running a shop selling eatables with a business turnover of Rs 10 lakh, he or she should get registered with the Food Safety and Authority of India and all those shops/ establishments and companies selling and producing food items with a business turnover of above Rs 12 lakhs should posses license from the Food Safety and Authority of India.

Though the steps taken up by the Food Safety and Authority of India to provide safe food stuffs to the general public is praiseworthy, yet the people of the state in general and the owners of shops and establishments and companies selling and producing food items in particular do not understand the Act entirety.

Over and above, all the individuals who have registered and possessed license do not seem to bother about the Act.

In this regard, Hueiyen Lanpao interacted with some Food Safety Officers of certain districts of the State, who maintained that there have been publicity campaigns carried out by the Health department telling the owners of all shops and establishments selling eatable items and those companies producing food items to get the required registration card or license.

However, lack of awareness regarding the Act has led to the total neglect of the importance of possessing the registration card and the license.

Nonetheless, the Health department has made a final appeal to all owners of all shops and establishments selling eatable items and those companies manufacturing food items to get themselves registered and possess the required license from the Food Safety and Authority of India by January next year, failing which legal actions will be taken up and get them arrested.

In addition to this, they would be banned from continuing their business.

The Food Safety Officer informed that shop owners and proprietors of industries not following the guidelines of the Food Safety and Standard Act could be fined Rs 2 lakhs.

They could also be fined Rs 5 lakhs if the food items being sold or produced lead to the death of consumers after consumption.