Vegetable Oil is a refining process important for preparing vegetable and animal oils & fats so that they can be used in cooking, frying and making foods. Vegetable Oil or vegetable fats are such oils which are taken out from seeds or sometimes from parts of fruits.
Examples of fats from seeds are Soybean oil and grape seed oil. Examples of fats from parts of fruits are palm oil, olive oil and rice bran oil. Commonly, the vegetable oil refers to vegetable fats which are liquid at room temperature.
Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is an independent body which is working under the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India. The responsibility of FSSAI is to issue license to the food business enterprises so that their guidelines are followed by every food business operator.
How is FSSAI Registration Important for Vegetable Oil Units?
Registration or License acts as an evidence for safeguarding and monitoring public life and health by following the rules and also scrutinizes the quality of food safety. In FSSAI registration, we get a 14-digit registration Number or a license number for Food which the Food Business Operator must print it on the package of the food or display in the premises. The 14 digit FSSAI license number provides with the detail data about the Food Business Operator’s enrollment number, assembling state and other elements as required.
Therefore, FSSAI registration is required to have the guarantee about the quality of the extraction for the Vegetable Oil Processing Units. To ensure that the process of extraction, refinement and expelling of the Vegetable Oil Processing units is of the standard quality and in accordance with the guidelines of FSSAI.
Types of Registration Vegetable Oil Processing Unit
There are three kinds of registration which the Vegetable Oil Processing Unit’s dealer, manufacturer and trader have to comply with and they are:
- Basic FSSAI Registration: The basic FSSAI registration is compulsory for Vegetable oil processing units and units that produce vegetable oil by the method of refineries, solvent extraction counting oil expeller unit with a turnover of upto 12 lakh per annum or 100 kg/litre per day.
- State FSSAI License: The FSSAI State license is obligatory for Vegetable oil processing units and also units that process vegetable oil by the method of refineries, solvent extraction and include oil expeller unit that processes 2 MT per day or have a turnover up to Rs 20crore annually.
- Central FSSAI license: The Central FSSAI license is compulsory when the Vegetable oil processing units and the units which produce vegetable oil by the method of extraction of solvent and refineries, oil expeller unit is having a capacity of processing more than 2 MT per day or has a turnover of Rs 20 crore and more annually.
Read our article:Regulation of FSSAI on Vigilance & Safety of Packaged Foods
Purpose for Acquiring the FSSAI License for Vegetable Oil Processing Unit
The main purpose of acquiring the license is to comply with law and the guidelines as has been framed by the FSSAI authority responsible to monitor the Vegetable Oil Processing Unit:
List of Important Documents Mandatory for FSSAI Registration
- Photograph of the production unit.
- Outline plan of the processing unit presenting the dimensions in measures and area allocation according to the operation.
- Name of all the Directors involved with their complete contact details. (Obligatory for companies only).
- List of the Machinery and Equipment with the number, capacity installed and horse power.
- A report analyzing the quality (Chemical and Bacteriological) of water used as constituent in food from an authorized public health laboratory.
- Photo I.D and proof of address issued by the Government authority of owner, director, authorized signatory or Partner.
- Any document which proves the possession of premises like a rent agreement.
- Partnership Deed, Memorandum of association & Articles of association for the incorporation of the firm.
- Form IX: Company nomination of a person with the Board Resolution of Company.
FSSAI Registration Process for Vegetable Oil Processing Unit
You need to go with the below mentioned steps in order to get the FSSAI Registration for you Vegetable Oil Processing Units, which are as follows:-
Choose the type of License Required
- First step is that it is important to choose the right type of license or registration as required according to the particular business.
- If it is a newly established food business then it will require FSSAI registration.
- If it is an old food business then on the basis of the business turnover the license shall be required.
Picking the Type of your Business
- The subsequent step is to choose the type of business for which the business operator shall apply for FSSAI registration / license.
- FSSAI has classified different kinds of business into categories and the food business operators shall respectively apply for license or registration for the same.
- It is important to remember that in case of business[1] related to processing of vegetables to production of vegetable oils by any process of solvent extraction/expeller and refining the mentioning of the heading Vegetable Oil Processing Unit is a necessary condition.
A Login Creation on FSSAI Site
- After deciding the type and the kind of business, the subsequent step is to login on the FSSAI site.
- The applicant is required to create his own user id and generate the password on the FSSAI site.
FSSAI Application Form
- Eventually after login, the required FSSAI application form shall be filled.
- There would be two forms i.e. Form-A for registration & Form-B for license to select.
- The form shall be filled accordingly and the food business operator shall choose the food code for which he is applying.
- The FSSAI site has classified the food categories and has given the respective food code for different food products.
What is the Validity of FSSAI Registration?
- The validity period of FSSAI licenses given to food businesses are valid for one to five years of the time period and in accordance to as preferred by the Food Business Operator.
- If a food business operator wants to renew their license then it is obligatory for them to apply for renewal of license within the time period of 30 days before the existing license expires.
- A fine of Rs.100 per day is the fixed penalty in case of non-renewal of license until the renewal is done.
- The consequence of the lapse in renewal within the fixed date can result deactivation of the old license and then the only solution for the businesses operator is to apply for a fresh license.
Conclusion
Vegetable oil processing unit is the process of extraction of oil and it is important to regulate the process and to scrutinize the methods of the how the process of extraction is done ensuring the safety of the end product.
Therefore, FSSAI under the Food safety and standard Act, 2006 (FSSAI act) is the sole authority to deal with the food safety. Thus, Vegetable oil processing unit for the purpose of validating its processing needs to register and acquire the license of FSSAI. Hence, one cannot deal in Vegetable Oil Processing without this License.
Read our article:Indian Seafood Industry: Export & FSSAI Guidelines
