The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) had mandated all food business operators to obtain licences/registrations before August 4.
Instead of a spurt of applications being filed now with deadline just round the corner, the number of food businesses knocking on the doors of the Food Safety Wing here has actually declined in the past three months.
A senior food safety official told The Hindu that just around 18 per cent of the total 26,691 food businesses, including ration shops and Government school hostels, in Coimbatore district had valid licences/registrations now.
The number of licences issued in June was 69 while the average figure used to hover between 200 and 300 till a few months ago. This was mainly due to the repeated deadline extensions.
When the Food Safety Act was notified and implemented from August 5, 2011, businesses were given an initial deadline of a year to register. It was extended from August 4, 2012, to February 4, 2013, and to February 4 this year and again to August 4. Licence was mandatory for all food business concerns with an annual turnover of above Rs. 12 lakh and those below this threshold have to obtain registration, both of which were valid for a year.
Further, the official said that even those who had obtained licences were failing to renew them. While 8,607 had registered last year, only 2,498 have renewed it. Similarly, 3,714 licences were issued last year of which 2,327 were not renewed. A total of 7,496 firms had failed to renew their licences/registration. In the absence of any instructions from FSSAI, the officials were also reluctant to launch a campaign asking food businesses to seek or renew licences.
Only the multinational companies involved in food businesses and their distributors along with restaurants were now keen on obtaining or renewing licences. However, those firms who were most in need of licences, such as the roadside food shops and small canteens, besides small groceries, are extremely reluctant, the official added.
