NEW DELHI: Illegal imports of colas, chocolates, biscuits and other food products may finally come to an end in a few months. The government
plans to appoint health officers at all ports of entry to clamp down on illegal imports of food products that do not adhere to existing mandatory guidelines such as printing expiry dates, date of import, registration and batch numbers of importers.
“An interministerial group is working out a new mechanism to keep tabs on imported foods on each port of entry. We plan to appoint health officers at different ports. Samples of imported foods will be taken based on a risk analysis – in other words, from ports where imports are more likely to be illegal,” Food Safety & Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) chairman Dr PI Suvrathan said. While the law will be centralised and monitored by the FSSAI, implementation will be done at the state level.
The nodal food authority is considering the possibility of outsourcing the task of monitoring and implementing the standards to a third party or a private agency.
The new mechanism will be part of the upcoming integrated food law, which will include modified guidelines of what was earlier the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act (PFA), under the ministry of health and family welfare. The PFA will get dissolved in phases and be merged with the integrated food law.
For Indian and multinational food companies, the enforcement of the new mechanism would help curb illegal imports which they say are detrimental to their interests. “Illegally imported products which do not adhere to mandatory guidelines end up giving our brands a bad name but ride piggyback on our credibility. We often have no way of tracking down the source of these imported products. In addition, such importers get away with under-invoicing and also evade taxes. So, they have an unfair advantage of lower prices,” said the head of a food company, requesting anonymity.
This is also true for companies which have not yet established base in the country.
In addition, the unified food law plans to set up a scientific panel to audit the claims made by functional foods flooding the market as well as set standards for organic foods.
For example, the recent global controversy about melamine-tainted Chinese-sourced dairy products finding their way into shop shelves in India went largely unchecked. Although the government had issued notifications prohibiting imports of Chinese dairy products, these continued to be available at various retail stores across the country.
Source : The Economic Times