The Hindu : Bar on 6 bottling units using ISI mark

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Feb 20, 2003

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Bar on 6 bottling units using ISI mark

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI Feb. 19. In a major crackdown on the bottled drinking water industry, Food and Consumer Affairs Minister, Sharad Yadav, today ordered the immediate enforcement action against one bottling plant and withdrawal of the permission to use ISI mark from six others on the ground that they were not meeting the quality and other norms set by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS).

While enforcement action has been ordered against Pepsico India Holding, Bharuch, the units debarred from using the ISI mark include Bisleri International, Bangalore, and Ion Exchange, Navi Mumbai.

The other four plants from which the permission to use ISI mark have been withdrawn are : Vaibhav Aqua, Ghatkopar, Mumbai, Kothari Beverages, Shahpur, Thane, Surat Beverages, Dadra, (all in Maharashtra) and Sardul Mineral Water and Soda Private Limited, Jamshedpur. Announcing the decisions, a spokesperson of the Food and Consumer Affairs Ministry said expiry notice has also been issued against one unit — Vaishali Mineral Water, Hazipur, Bihar. In addition, warning letters were ordered to be issued against Hindustan Coca Cola Beverages, Khera, and Surbhi Milk Food, Kalol.

The action follows nation-wide raids conducted in the wake of a study by the Delhi-based NGO, Centre for Science and Environment, which revealed the presence of high levels of pesticides in bottled drinking water samples collected from Delhi and Mumbai. ``The raids, which began three days ago, are continuing and more bottling units would come under the scanner in the coming days'', the spokesperson added.

Since ISI certification is mandatory for bottled and packaged drinking water, the withdrawal of permission to use ISI mark would automatically debar the companies from marketing them.

In a related development, the Union Health Minister, Sushma Swaraj, said manufacturers of bottled drinking water and mineral water would now also have to get a no-objection certificate from the groundwater authorities at the Central or State Government level before obtaining licence for manufacture from the BIS and the authorities under the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act.

The mandatory certification would be in addition to the new provisions proposed to be introduced in the PFA Act with regard to the maximum permissible limit for pesticide residue in bottled drinking water. As per the proposal, total concentration of such residue in water samples should not exceed 0.0005 mg per litre.

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