Madurai Bench of Madras High Court stays operation of Regulation No. 1.2.4 , 2.1.14(2) and......

18,April 2012
Madras High Court, Chennai.


Madurai Bench of Madras High Court Stays Operation of the following Regulations

1. Regulation No. 1.2.4 in Chapter I,
2. Regulation No. 2.1.1(4) in Chapter II, 
3. Regulation No. 2.1.14(2) in Chapter II, 
4. 5.1 in Part II of Schedule IV
5. 7 in Part II of Schedule IV of the Food Safety & Standards (Licensing & Regulation of   Food Businesses ) Regulations,2011 
6. Regulation 2.2.2(3) of The Food Safety & Standards ( Packaging & Labeling ) Regulations,2011
7. Regulations of The Foods Safety & Standards ( Food Products Standards & Food Additives ) Regulations,2011 

Order passed by Honorable Mr. Justice K.Venkataraman in the 

MP(MD) Nos. 2&3 of 2012 

IN 

WP(MD) 4791 of 2012.

Click here to download the copy of the order dated 18th April,2012

Nagpur bench of Bombay HC asks VTA, NRHA to withdraw PIL against FSSAI

Wednesday, April 11, 2012 08:00 IST 
Irum Khan, Mumbai

The Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court, on Tuesday, asked the Nagpur-based Vidarbha Taxpayers Association (VTA) and Nagpur Residential Hotels Association (NRHA) to withdraw the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by them against the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).

The two bodies had filed a PIL seeking the court's assistance in withdrawing certain "unconstitutional" clauses in the Food Safety & Standards Act, 2006 (FSSA 2006), and the Food Safety & Standards (Licensing and Registration of Food Business) Regulations, 2011.

The PIL had alleged that the Authority did not consult the affecting parties before enacting the Act. Also, the implementation of the Act in the present form, could prove to be a breeding ground for corruption and Inspector Raj, it said.

However, the court asked for certain circumstantial evidence to substantiate such
allegations.

"It will be difficult for us to get such documents but we are going to file again as the High Court has withdrawn the PIL by giving the liberty to file again. If the court is still not satisfied, we may think of challenging the Order in the Supreme Court," said Tejinder
Singh Renu, secretary, VTA and NHRA.

Strike in Ratlam
Meanwhile, a trade body from Ratlam, Madhya Pradesh, has announced a three-day strike against "far-fetched" clauses of the FSSA. This seems to be among the series of agitations that the country has witnessed in recent times against the Aug 5, 2011, implementation of the law.

While the Authority has been promising to review the law, campaigns are intensifying in states like Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. 

Jolt for FSSAI as Nagpur bodies move HC against “unconstitutional” FSSA

Monday, April 09, 2012 08:00 IST 
Irum Khan, Mumbai


Challenging the constitutional validity of the provision of the Food Safety & Standards Act, 2006 (FSSA 2006), Nagpur-based Vidarbha Taxpayers Association (VTA) and Nagpur Residential Hotels Association (NRHA) have filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) with the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court.

The PIL has been filed against the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India, (FSSAI), the union ministry of health and family welfare, ministry of law & justice, legislative department, and the Food and Drug Administration, Maharashtra.

Calling certain provision of the FSSA unconstitutional, the PIL also challenges the legality, validity and propriety of the Regulation No. 2.1.2 of the Food Safety & Standards (Licensing and Registration of Food Business) Regulations, 2011.

According to the petition filed by Tejinder Singh Renu, secretary, VTA and NHRA, the provision engrafted in the FSS Act appear to harm even innocent traders and others. It said that the law is passed without even consulting the traders, merchants, businessmen, etc., concerned in this field. “It is good to have such a law but at the same time it is very difficult to imagine that such a law can be implemented in a most haphazard manner or in a haste shutting eyes to the pragmatic practices and the practices of food business prevalent in India,” said the petition.

The PIL has accused the Authority of enforcing a law which is immensely vague. It is a settled democratic principle that, every wing of the government be it the executive, the legislature or the judiciary has to separate grain from chaff in respect of issues before it. While drafting a law like the FSS Act, 2006, the target persons must be the one who are engrossed in food adulteration and black-marketing. However, in catching hold of such persons, the FSS Act, 2006, sounds to be a good prospect but, it may cause more harm than good by implementing the penal, harsh and draconian provision even against the bona-fide food business operators due to its immense vagueness, the petitioners said.

......read more

Spirit brands need to enter India at local level first: Rabobank

By Kacey Culliney, 06-Apr-2012

International spirit brands looking to gain traction in the Indian market need to establish a strong local hold and portfolio, perhaps through a partnership, before introducing premium products to market, according to Rabobank.

Rabobank’s report 'The Indian Spirits' said that India is an attractive marketplace that, “offers numerous opportunities provided that the inherent obstacles are overcome.”

 India, in terms of volume, is the second largest spirits market in the world and is expected to significantly outpace developed markets due to increased alcohol consumption in the country.

The market can be split into three sectors; ‘country liquor’ comprising 55%, the IMFL sector at 44% and imported spirits making up the final 1% of market.

The IMFL sector includes spirits such as whisky, rum, brandy, vodka and gin manufactured in India and Rabobank forecasts that this sector will see a CAGR of 12% over the next five years, “fuelled by the forecast impressive growth for the overall Indian economy and rising levels of disposable incomes.”

The white spirits segment, largely vodka, due to its “gender-neutral urban image” is India’s fastest growing spirit.

“For Western players, the need to gain a strong foothold in the Indian market is clearly evident, and partnering with an Indian-made foreign liquor (IMFL) player could be one of the fastest ways to do this,” Rabobank said.

“This will immediately create a platform for the western spirits player to expand into the market,” it added.

Should a buy-out prove impossible, a joint venture would be a good alternative, it noted.

.......read more

Indian state drives first nail in Gutkha’s coffin

By Ankush Chibber, 06-Apr-2012

The central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh has become the first to ban the sale and manufacture of Gutkha products, the traditional and increasingly controversial form of edible tobacco.

State officers have been instructed to begin confiscating the material that medical and health officials have linked to rising cancer rates.Indian’s health ministry has signaled it will ban gutkha, pan masala, and other edible forms of tobacco on the basis of a ruling last year by the country’s Supreme Court.

Gutkha: Up in smoke?

The Indian Ministry of Health says it will enforce the ruling that it is illegal to mix tobacco into food products.“Our stand is that if gutkha is food and as per the Food Safety and Standards Act it is illegal to mix harmful things in food, then tobacco and zarda, known harmful items, should not be mixed in food. This is what we will tell the states,” a ministry official said at that time.

This stance has been challenged in courts in many states by manufactures of gutkha and tobacco chewing products who say the products are not indeed foodstuffs.

When the matter  reached the Supreme Court of India in late 2010, it ruled since pan masala, supari and gutkha are eaten for taste and nourishment, they are foods within the meaning of the food safety act.

In addition the highest judicial body ruled that under the act, the authority to ban an article of food or an article used as an ingredient of food, belongs to the government of India.

source

Indian regulators harden healthy foods stance

By Ankush Chibber, 05-Apr-2012

Stung by a recent report that damned many of India’s top food brands for containing high amounts of sugar, salt, and fats, the country’s food regulators are moving against the worst offenders.

TFAs are coming under scrutiny in IndiaFirst in line is trans fatty acid (TFA) content in vanaspati oil, where new standards are due by the end of May, a spokesperson for Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) told FoodNavigator-Asia."We are going to notify rules that would limit TFA content in vanaspati to 10% by the end of May,” the FSSAI spokesperson said of a deadline moved forward several months.

The ministry said TFA content in vanaspati oil would eventually be reduced to 5% by the end of 2013.

The proposed standards were first issued after a report from the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), which stated that seven branded edible oils in India had TFA content up to 12 times the 2% benchmark used in Denmark.

Broader change

Regulatory change is being prompted by labelling issues which were highlighted in another recent report by the CSE. That suggested Indian food brands are resorting to misbranding and misinformation to hide the real quantity of salt, sugar, and fat in their foods.

The report, which got widespread local media coverage, saw the CSE testing 16 major brands of popular food products, including Nestlé’s Maggi Noodles and Haldiram’s Aloo Bhujia.

... read more

Indian state charges Red Bull over caffeine content; court battle looms

By Ankush Chibber, 02-Apr-2012


Austrian energy drink leader Red Bull Gmbh has run into rough weather in India with a state level food regulator, which claims to have confiscated 1.6 million cans of the drink over caffeine content.

Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration on Red Bull caffeine levels: "We are preparing for legal battle.”

A spokesperson of the Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (MFDA), said it had seized the product because caffeine content in the energy drink was between 250ppm (parts per million) and 300ppm.

According to the laws framed by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), the maximum permissible caffeine content in carbonated beverages is 145ppm, but it also exempts energy drinks as they are classed as food items, not carbonated beverages.

As per court documents accessed by FoodNavigator-Asia, the Madras High Court previously ruled that as the FSSAI has not formulated new standards for energy drinks, Red Bull, which is a proprietary food, did not need to conform to the standards for carbonated drinks.

Local regulators acting 'rogue'

“Unfortunately for Red Bull, the local regulators are not heeding to the line of the court or following the hierarchical order. The ball is in the FSSAI’s court now. Once it issues standards, energy drink makers would have a line to toe,” an industry observer said.

He said he expects Red Bull to take on the MFDA legally, citing the Madras High Court Order, that in its interpretation forbids regulators treating energy drinks as carbonated drinks.

.....read more