The Government has made it mandatory for all Food Business Operators across the country to apply for and receive a food licence before they can begin running their establishments or working on their registered jobs. All FBOs have to register under the FSSAI, but the FSSAI registration requires them to apply for a food licence and the type of food licence that each FBO should register for, varies.
Food business operators, according to the Food Safety and Standard Act of 2006 are defined as any undertaking, private or public, running either for profit or not, carrying out any activities related to any stages of manufacture, processing, packaging, storage, transportation, distribution of food, imports and including food services, sale of food, or food ingredients.
Any company meeting the above requirements has to register for a food licence. There are three types of licenses, which differ on the scale of operation of the business, which can include their annual turnover or the number of branches they have across the country.
The Basic FSSAI Registration
Petty food manufacturers and small-sized manufacturers, storage units, transporters, retailers,
marketers, distributors are thus required to obtain the FSSAI Registration, which is issued by the
State Government. Depending upon the eligibility, an FBO can fall under the State Licence or
Registration license, making this mainly for the units having an annual turnover of up to 12 lakh.
FBOs seeking a new registration or the renewal looking of their current FSSAI License have to
apply through application form B, which implies that there is only one form used when applying
for a new registration or renewing an old one.
FSSAI Registration State License
Food business operators including, small to medium-sized manufacturers, storage units,
transporters, retailers, marketers, distributors need to obtain the FSSAI State License, which is
issued by the State Government. For this registration, however, it is significant that these
establishments have operations in only one Indian State, to obtain the State license. It is thus
mostly for the units having an annual turnover of more than 12 lakh.
FSSAI Registration Central License
Importers, 100% Export Oriented Units, large manufacturers, operators in the Central Government
agencies, airports, seaports and similar companies require to obtain a Central Food License,
which is registered for and issued by the Central Government, through their head office in New
Delhi. Establishments with operations in more than one Indian State also fall under this bracket,
overall, this usually connects to units with an annual turnover which is greater than 20 crores.
All three categories of licences do have a specific validity and have to complete the renewal process before they expire. The renewal process takes a maximum of 60 days and should be applied for, 30 days before expiration. If the establishment has been running without a licence, they could be subject to high fines and penalties.