EU seeks clarification on India’s new hard-line labelling regulations

By RJ Whitehead,27-Nov-2013

The EU's ambassador to India, Joao Cravinho

The European Union’s ambassador to India has written to the government there in a bid to clarity its packaging regulations after around 200 tonnes of imported cheese, chocolates and other food items were blocked under the Food Safety and Standards Act.

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India halted the import on labelling grounds, in that pasting information stickers on packs is now not sufficient under new regulations.

While companies often use stickers on imported products to specify certain details that are mandatory in India, such as if the items are vegetarian or non-vegetarian, the food regulator is now insisting that all nutritional information should be printed on packs before they are shipped to the country.

Non-tariff barriers?

“The food safety concerns are legitimate. We have no issues about that. We need to find a manner in which these issues can be addressed, without prejudicing trade. Otherwise, these could constitute non-tariff barriers,” Ambassador Joao Cravinho said in his note.

The FSSAI, the regulatory agency under the health ministry that supervises import of food items to ensure quality, has this month started to take a hard-line on its labelling regulations, which came into force in 2011. 

"Why should they have stickers? Stickers are temporary measures. When our [regulations] are clearly laid out, companies must print them on the packs that are to be shipped to the country," one official told Business Standard. 

read more