The India Authority for Food Safety and Standards (FSSAI) has proposed a consultation paper in which permission to manufacture certain products to food operators only restrict state and central licenses. These products include infant products, sweetened condensed milk, packed drinking water, mineral water and milk powder. The authority was looking for comments from stakeholders about it.

Currently, food companies that make these products must receive either the FSSAI registration or the license based on their authorization.

Previously, manufacturers of products such as infant nutrition, packaged drinking and mineral water and condensed lean milk had required to obtain a mandatory certification from the Bureau of Indian standards in addition to the FSSAI registration or license. In 2024, however, the government decided to eliminate the mandatory to certification requirements as part of their efforts to ensure measures.

In order to strengthen the compliance ecosystem, FSSAI suggests that existing registered companies that manufacture these products should be transferred to mandatory licensing. It is also proposed that new actors who intend to produce these high -risk products must receive a state or central license to produce these products. Therefore, it suggests to restrict companies that keep the FSSAI registration the permission to manufacture these products.

Receive registration

The authority found that obtaining the registration contains fewer duties of maintenance compared to licensing. Food business operators who receive an FSSAI registration do not have to submit any test reports on product analysis in a stranger way. In contrast to licensors, it is also not mandatory for FBOs, in which registration for annual returns is submitted, technical staff is qualified in order to monitor the production process and carry out audits from third -party providers. You only have to keep very basic hygiene and sanitary standards compared to licensed FBOs. “In addition, registered FBOs may lack the technical, financial and infrastructural skills to ensure safe production, especially for technically sophisticated products such as infant foods and packed drinking water,” said Fssai in his consultation paper.

“In order to further strengthen the compliance ecosystem, it was proposed that no new registrations and the renewal of the existing registration are permitted for the production of the specified products. Only state or central licenses are permitted,” she said.

The authority said, as soon as a special drive has been completed, it will be carried out to convert existing registered FBOs into the license category. It also means that there is about a transition period of six months so that FBOS shift the license category. According to his estimates, there are over 11,000 food companies that manufacture such products and hold the FSSAI registration.

Published on May 2, 2025