Food Safety and standards (Packaging and Labelling) regulation, 2011

MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE

(Food Safety and Standards Authority of India)

Notification

New Delhi, dated the 1^st August, 2011

F.No. 2-15015/30/2010 Whereas in exercise of the powers conferred by clause (k) of subsection (2) of section 92 read with section 23 of Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 (34 of 2006) the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India proposes to make Food Safety and Standards Regulations in so far they relates to Food Safety and Standards (Packaging and Labelling) Regulations, 2011, and;

Whereas these draft Regulations were published in consolidated form at pages 1 to 776 in the Gazette of India Extraordinary Part III – Sec. 4 dated 20^th October 2010 inviting objections and suggestions from all persons likely to be affected thereby before the expiry of the period of thirty days from the date on which the copies of the Gazette containing the said notification were made available to the public;

And whereas the copies of the Gazette were made available to the public on the 21^st October 2010;

And whereas objections and suggestions received from the stakeholders within the specified period on the said draft Regulations have been considered and finalized by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India.

Now therefore, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India hereby makes the following Regulations, namely,—

FOOD SAFETY AND STANDARDS (PACKAGING AND LABELLING) REGULATIONS, 2011

GENERAL

1.1: Short title and commencement

1.1.1: These regulations may be called the Food Safety and Standards (Packaging and labelling) Regulations, 2011 1.1.2: These regulations shall come into force on or after 5^th August, 2011

1.2: Definitions—

1.2.1: In these regulations unless the context otherwise requires:

1. “Best before” means the date which signifies the end of the period under any stated storage conditions during which the food shall remain fully marketable and shall retain any specific qualities for which tacit or express claims have been made and beyond that date, the food may still be perfectly safe to consume, though its quality may have diminished. However the food shall not be sold if at any stage the product becomes unsafe.
2. “Date of manufacture” means the date on which the food becomes the product as described;
3. “Date of packaging” means the date on which the food is placed in the immediate container in which it will be ultimately sold;
4. “Infant” means a child not more than twelve months of age;
5. “Lot number” or “code number” or “batch number” means the number either in numericals or alphabets or in combination thereof, representing the lot number or code number or batch number, being preceded by the words “Lot No” or “Lot” or “code number” or “Code” or Batch No” or “Batch” or any distinguishing prefix by which the food can be traced in manufacture and identified in distribution.
6. “Multipiece package” means a package containing two or more individually packaged or labelled pieces of the same commodity of identical quantity, intended for retail either in individual pieces or packages as a whole.
7. “Non- Vegetarian Food” means an article of food which contains whole or part of any animal including birds, fresh water or marine animals or eggs or products of any animal origin, but excluding milk or milk products, as an ingredient;
8. “Prepackaged” or “Pre-packed food”, means food, which is placed in a package of any nature, in such a manner that the contents cannot be changed without tampering it and which is ready for sale to the consumer.Note: The expression “package” wherever it occurs in these Regulations, shall be construed as package containing pre-packed food articles.
9. “Principal Display Panel” means that part of the container/package which is intended or likely to be displayed or presented or shown or examined by the customer under normal and customary conditions of display, sale or purchase of the commodity contained therein.
10. “Use – by date” or “Recommended last consumption date” or “Expiry date” means the date which signifies the end of the estimated period under any stated storage conditions, after which the food probably will not have the quality and safety attributes normally expected by the consumers and the food shall not be sold;
11. “Vegetarian Food” means any article of Food other than Non- Vegetarian Food as defined in regulation1.2.1 (7).
12. “Wholesale package” means a package containing —

(a) a number of retail packages, where such first mentioned package is intended for sale, distribution or delivery to an intermediary and is not intended for sale direct to a single consumer; or

(b) a commodity of food sold to an intermediary in bulk to enable such intermediary to sell, distribute or deliver such commodity of food to the consumer in smaller quantities.

PACKAGING AND LABELLING