The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) on September 15, 2023, issued a notification regarding the Streamlining FSSAI License Application Process for Relabeller Kind of Business (KOB).
The following has been stated: -
•FSSAI has received multiple representations from Food Business Operators (FBOs) and industry stakeholders, expressing concerns regarding the license application process for Relabeller kind of business.
•The scrutiny of the application for a Relabeller License may be limited only to the information related to Relabeller i.e. without relating to the compliance by the linked manufacturers. The manufacturers shall be checked for compliance by the concerned Licensing Authorities as per the FSS Act, 2006 and the Rules and Regulations made thereunder.
•In order to eliminate any scope for ambiguity, online NOCs issued by Manufacturers to Relabellers will now include the following disclaimer: “This NoC does not authorize the manufacturer to manufacture the food products unless the mentioned products are endorsed in the manufacturer's license".
•Further, the availability of a recent feature in FOSCOS now allows licensing authorities to compare the modification application with the previously submitted application, enabling them to identify the changes made by the food business operators. This allows licensing authorities to focus only on the changes made in the modification application.
•So while processing the License modification applications, the Licensing Authorities may raise queries on already endorsed products, where there is a reasonable ground such as introduction/amendment in the Product Standard Regulations pertaining to already endorsed products, etc.
The detailed notification is given in the document attached below.
[Notification No. 15(31)2020/FoSCOS/RCD/FSSAIpt9]
