All Food Business Operators have to apply for an FSSAI licence if they are planning on conducting business in India. While they are allowed to begin their business without one, they have to get one within the first month of running or can face repercussions that they would have to comply with. While there are various types of FSSAI registrations businesses have to go through depending on the type of business they are planning on running, the process is overall quite simple.
Who has to get an FSSAI registration?
Food business operators or people dealing with food in any capacity have to get through the process. They have to follow a list of roles and responsibilities to achieve food safety in their business. Not only should they be going through the process to make sure the people working are protected, but since it is the processing of food, the end customer should also be safe.
What are the registrations they have to follow?
Depending on the annual turnover of their company, they have to register with the right department. Other factors that define their registration are the type of business they are running, whether stores and shops or whether they are working in the transportation of the food.
Furthermore, whether they have branches in multiple states in India or just in one State, plays a role in their registration process.
FBOs have to get through one of three types of registrations if they want to be running a business according to the requirements of the law. Depending on meeting the criteria, they can register for a
Basic FSSAI registration
State-level FSSAI registration
Central level FSSAI registration
Additionally, the documentation that they provide for the registration varies, along with the fees and the office where they should register. Applying for the FSSAI Registration is not just a simple one-time thing that an applicant has to go through, but recurring checks conducted throughout the year. The FSSAI certificate, in most cases, is valid for a year and they have to renew it annually if they want to continue running the business. Furthermore, the office conducts some inspections throughout the process, including surprise inspections to make sure they are continuously following the rules.
However, while the process can be tedious, there are several benefits to getting an FSSAI registration, and there are multiple schemes that companies can apply for.
Much like the FSSAI process, there is a similar process for companies that are not working within the food industry. The Government has been, for the longest time, encouraging small businesses and companies to start coming up. Throughout the pandemic, a large number of people in India were losing their jobs, and there was nothing much that they could do, so they were given assistance and told to leverage their talents and begin companies of their own.
What is the Udyog Aadhaar?
One of the schemes that the Government was running through the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, which is a branch of the Government of India is the Udyog Aadhaar scheme. Much like the Indian identification card, called the Aadhaar card, this document was an identification card for businesses and could be used by them for various benefits. Businesses with the Udyog Aadhaar received an edge over others that did not have the card. Much like all present-day processes, applicants can get through this one, online as well.
If people did not want to get through the process online, they could use the website to download the forms or read and learn about the process and then apply for it offline. Other than creating an easy process, the Government was also working on reducing unemployment and encourage more people to register their companies and businesses. People were going through the registration process since there were more benefits to it than skipping out since it was easy to get through.
