FSSAI plays a vital role in regulating food safety and standards in India. In fact, it is the only legit avenue that controls the supply chain of food and compels FBOs to follow its guidelines. FSSAI administers production, marketing, distribution, and trading food items in India. Every food venture in India is liable to obtain an FSSAI food license to legally operate in India. The FSSAI license is available under three different categories, namely; basic FSSAI registration, State Food license, and Central FSSAI license. This write-up will give you a complete briefing on documents required for State Food License.
Documents to be arranged for State Food License
Businesses seeking State FSSAI License needs to visit the FSSAI’s online portal: FosCos and fill the relevant e-form. During online application filing, the portal will ask you to upload the document as mentioned below:
- Three passport size photographs of the business owner/applicant.
- Identify proof of the business owner/applicant such as PAN card, Voter ID, Aadhar Card, and Driving License.
- Registration of certification of the establishment.
- Form IX Nominations: Form IX refers to a declaration form that confirms that the applicant has been legally nominated by the authorized signatory or the proprietor.
- Legit evidence reflecting the source of raw materials.
- Details pertaining to machinery & equipment installed in the unit;
- Details of food items to be processed or packed
- Authorization Letter reflecting the address and name of the liable person.
- No-objection Certificate conferred by the Municipality[1];
- Briefed plan regarding the Food Safety Management System.
- A detailed briefing on the food items to be processed or prepared at the facility.
- Partnership Deed and Details of partners if the establishment is operating as a partnership firm.
- a copy of Trust Deed and Trustees records if the establishment is operating as a registered deed
- Memorandum of Association, Article of Association, incorporation certificate, and detail of active directors if the establishment is operating as a Private or Public limited company.
- Details of all the members, if the applicant represents the Co-operative Society.
- Star rating certificate authenticated by the Ministry of Tourism.
Once you upload the aforesaid documents in the permissible file format, you need to make online fee submission by clicking the relevant option. A confirmation message will ensure whether your payment processing has been successful or not.
Making payment doesn’t necessarily ensure the instant disbursal of license. A successful payment message only confirms that your application has been considered for further scrutiny.
During this verification process, your place of business may be inspected by the designated officer for any non-conformity. It is needless to mention that your license request may be revoked if the said officer finds something offensive during the on-site inspection. For the successful obtainment of the license, your paperwork must be on point.
Read our article:All you need to know About FSSAI State License
Important Facts regarding the State Food License
- Hotels rendering lodging and meals as a part of their services and have up to 4 stars ratings need to get this license.
- Food Vending agencies having up to 100 vending machines in only one state/UT are mandated to avail State Food License.
- Dairy Units having a production capacity of 10001-50000 liters/day are needs to abide by the FSSAI rules and obtain a state food license.
- The registration fees for Vegetable Oil Processing units having 1-2 MT/day of production capacity has been capped at Rs 5000. Similarly, processing unit producing oil below the said capacity needs to submit a registration fee of Rs 3000 for getting a state food license
- Meat processing units producing more than 500kg meat/day are required to submit registration fees of Rs 3000 to get this license.
Penalty for Breaching FSSAI’s Norms
Any non-conformity with FSSAI’s norms could be detrimental to your business. Running the food business in the absence of this license could incur a considerable penalty and may also disrupt your market presence. The designated officers can make a surprise visit to the premises to make some legal checks. If the said officer manages to find something that breaches the underlying norms in one way or another then penalties would be levied accordingly.
The following penalties would be levied on the defaulters against the nature of offense mentioned in the table.
| S.No | Particulars | Fine (INR) |
| 1 | Food quality is not in line with the compliancesgiven in the act | 2,00,000 Petty manufacturer – 25,000/- |
| 2 | Below par food quality | 5,00,000 |
| 3 | Food items lacking proper branding | 3,00,000 |
| 4 | Falsified advertisement or deceptive description | 10,00,000 |
| 5 | Food is contaminated on purpose | 1,00,000 |
| 6 | Breaching the orders of Food safety officer | 2,00,000 |
| 7 | Unhygienic processing or manufacture | 1,00,000 |
Conclusion
Issuance of FSSAI food license largely revolves around annual turnover criteria. However, in some cases, it takes other parameters like production capacity and scale of business into account. In case if you need more clarity on documents required for State Food License then do not hesitate to connect with CorpBiz’s experts.
Read our article:An Overview on FSSAI Registration for Food Marketing Company
