FSSAI Extends last date for filing Annual Returns for fiscal 2022-23

The FSSAI has extended the last date for filing annual returns for the fiscal 2022-23. The food authority has issued a direction in this regard stating that the last date for submission of annual returns, as per condition of licence, has been extended till June 30, 2023.

The FSSAI has also reiterated that only online annual returns submitted through FoSCoS will be accepted.

Meanwhile, welcoming the move, Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) has said that the move would help traders.

Shankar Thakkar, state general secretary, CAIT Maharashtra, has said that the traders would be relieved from fear of losing the FSSAI licence due to extension of the date, as pendency of annual returns would result into cancellation of the licence. And consequently, the packaging with old FSSAI licence would have been wasted.

“Therefore, we had demanded that the food regulator to extend the date for filing of annual returns,” said Thakkar.

It is pertinent to note that food manufacturers, repackers, re-labellers, packers and producers, needed to file annual returns to FSSAI through D1 form by May 31, 2023.

According to CAIT, many traders could not file the annual returns and they appealed to the FSSAI for an extension.

Subsequently, FSSAI extended the dates for the fiscal 2022-23 until June 30.