Under the changes, food businesses can file an appeal before the Chief Executive Officer against any decision of rejection within 30 days.
The FSSAI has issued an order in this regard, stating, “The food business operators may file an appeal before the Chief Executive Officer of the food authority against any decision of rejection of application within 30 days of the receipt of rejection letter. Such appeal shall be disposed off within 30 days of its receipt and any delay beyond this shall be allowed with reasons recorded thereof.”
Further, the order stipulates that the petitioner can also have a chance to file a review petition before the Chairperson against the CEO’s decision within 30 days and the decision of the chair would be final.
The order reads, “A food business operator, who is aggrieved by the decision of the Chief Executive Officer of the food authority may file a review petition to be placed for consideration of the Chairperson of the food authority, within 30 days from the date of issue of appellate order.”
“The decision of the Chairperson, food authority, shall be final in this regard. Such review shall be disposed off within 30 days of its receipt and any delay beyond this shall be allowed with reason recorded thereof,” reads the order.
Previously under the Food Safety and Standards (Approval for Non-Specified Food and Food Ingredients) Regulations, 2017, there were unclear references about the procedure for appeal and the food businesses were facing problems in filing appeal before the competent authority.
