Food Safety and Standards Bill
2005 introduced
The eight-year long wait of the Indian
processed food industry and the chambers
of commerce finally came to an end, as
Minister of Food Processing Industries,
Shri Subodh Kant Sahai introduced the
Food Safety and Standards Bill 2005 in
the Lok Sabha recently. The minister
further said that as per the mandate of
the UPA Government to his Ministry, the
Bill would go to the Standing Committee
before being passed by Parliament in its
winter session.
It is believed that besides consolidation
of laws relating to food and establishment
of the Food Safety and Standards
Authority of India, the Bill would seek to
facilitate scientific standards for food
articles and regulate their manufacture,
storage, distribution, sale and import to
ensure the availability of safe and
wholesome food for human consumption.
It may be noted that presently, eight
ministries are administering food laws in
diverse ways and this is seen to be a
discouraging factor to the growth of the
food processing sector. Consequently, once
enacted, the legislation would be
administered by the Ministry of Food
Processing Industries and would have
provisions of stringent punishment for
offenders who adulterate food, causing
serious health hazards to the people.
Moreover, there will be a single window
system and a uniform law to govern the
food processing industry.
