“Our food exporters have to adhere to various stringent set of rules and regulations for exporting food, while we do not strain the same sort of stringency on imported food and thus it is imperative to evolve standards for domestically consumed food as we have been having a lackadaisical approach towards setting standards,” said Dr Chandramouli while sharing his views on initiatives being taken by FSSAI in the areas of regulation in the food sector while addressing an FMCG Summit organised by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM).
“We do have some standards to begin with but we need to take more steps in this regard to ensure the safety of food for consumption which comes from outside,” said the chairperson.
“We, at FSSAI, are working out a mechanism in collaboration with all the stakeholders including the scientists, laboratories, experts and industry representatives from the food business operators (FBOs) including those involved in import-export of food material and for them to ensure that for their goods get accepted we need to set standards that are internationally minimum,” he added.
The FSSAI, in consultation with different stakeholders, was also working on setting standards for traditional or ethnic food as India was home to the largest variety of cuisines across different states, said the chairperson.
“There is also need for consensus of the FBOs in the country to ascertain who’s selling what and where so that at the end of the day all get covered and our representatives keep collecting the information in this regard with due support from the state governments to ensure speedy enforcement of the FSSA Act,” said Dr Chandramouli.
Meanwhile, S K Jindal, chairman, ASSOCHAM Investment and Investors’ Committee, urged the government to take necessary steps to protect the consumers’ rights and contain piracy as the direct loss due to piracy was about 20 per cent of the market share of prominent products.
