Food Safety and Standards (Organic Food) Regulation, 2017

The Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006

Official text

MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE

(FOOD SAFETY AND STANDARDS AUTHORITY OF INDIA)

NOTIFICATION

New Delhi, the 29th December, 2017

No. CPB/03/Standards/FSSAI/2016.— Whereas the draft Food Safety and Standards (Organic Foods)

Regulations, 2017, were published as required under sub-section (1) of section 92 of the Food Safety and

Standards Act, 2006 (34 of 2006), vide notification of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India number

CPB/03/Standards/FSSAI/ 2016, dated the 19th June, 2017, in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part III, Section

4, inviting objections and suggestions from persons likely to be affected thereby before the expiry of period of

thirty days from the date on which the copies of the Official Gazette containing the said draft regulations were made

available to the public;

And whereas copies of the said Gazette were made available to the public on the 22nd June, 2017;

And whereas objections and suggestions received from the public in respect of the said draft regulations

have been considered by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India;

Now, therefore, in exercise of the powers conferred by clause (e) of sub-section (2) of section 92 read with

sub-section (2) of section 16 and section 22 of the said Act, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India, with

previous approval of Central Government, hereby makes the following regulations, namely:—

REGULATIONS

CHAPTER I

General

1. Short title and commencement.— (1) These regulations may be called the Food Safety and Standards (Organic

Foods) Regulations, 2017.

(2) They shall come into force on the date of their publication in the Official Gazette and Food Business Operator

shall comply with all the provisions of these regulations by 1st July, 2018.

2. Definitions.— (1) In these regulations, unless the context otherwise requires,—

(a) “Act” means the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 (34 of 2006);

(b) “Accreditation body” means any agency recognised as such by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India

or recognised under the National Programme for Organic Production for accreditation of certification bodies;

of organic products and for granting the right to use the certification mark to the food business operators on

behalf of the Accreditation body;

(d) “Claim” means any representation which states, suggests or implies that a food has particular qualities relating

to its origin, nutritional properties, nature, processing and composition;

(e) “Food Authority” means the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India established under section 4 of the

Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006;

(f) “National Programme for Organic Production” means a programme of the Government of India which provides

an institutional mechanism for implementation of the National Standards for Organic Production with a third-

party certification control system as notified by the Director General of Foreign Trade under the Foreign Trade

(Development and Regulation) Act, 1992(22 of 1992);

(g) “Organic food” means food products that have been produced in accordance with specified standards for

organic food production;

(h) “Participatory Guarantee System for India” means a quality assurance initiative by the Department of

Agriculture Co-operation and Farmer‘s Welfare, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmer‘s Welfare, Government of

India for organic production which emphasizes the participation of producers, consumers and other stakeholders

and operate outside the framework of third party certification.

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(2)All other words and expressions used herein and not defined but defined in the Act or rules or regulations made

there under shall have the meanings assigned to the same in the Act or rules or regulations respectively.

CHAPTER II

Organic Food Labelling and Certification

3. Manufacture,pack, sell etc., of organic food.— No person shall manufacture, pack, sell, offer for sale, market

or otherwise distribute or import any organic food unless they comply with the requirements laid down under these

regulations.

4. Applicability of the systems.— (1) The organic food offered or promoted for sale shall also comply with all the

applicable provisions of one of the following systems, namely:—

(i) National Programme for Organic Production (NPOP);

(ii) Participatory Guarantee System for India (PGS-India).

(iii) Any other system or standards as may be notified by the Food Authority from time to time.

(2) The Organic food which is marketed through direct sales by the small original producer or producer

organisation, as determined by the Food Authority from time to time, to the end consumer shall be exempted from

the provisions of the systems referred in sub-regulation (1).

5. Labelling.— (1) Labelling on the package of organic food shall convey full and accurate information on the

organic status of the product. Such product may carry a certification or quality assurance mark of one of the systems

mentioned in regulation 4 in addition to the Food Safety and Standard Authority of India’s organic logo.

(2) All organic foods shall comply with the packaging and labelling requirements specified under the Food Safety

and Standards (Packaging and Labelling) Regulations, 2011 in addition to the labelling requirements under one of

the applicable systems mentioned in regulation 4.

6. Traceability.— shall be established upto the producer level as applicable under the systems mentioned in

regulation 4 and it shall include any other requirements prescribed by the Food Authority to maintain the organic

integrity of the food product.

7. Requirement to comply with the provision of the other regulations made under the Act.— Without prejudice

to the provisions of these regulations, all organic food shall comply with the relevant provisions, as applicable, under

the Food Safety and Standards (Food Product Standards and Food Additives) Regulations, 2011. The organic food

shall also comply with relevant provisions, as applicable under the Food Safety and Standards (Contaminants,

Toxins and Residues) Regulations, 2011 except for residues of insecticides for which the maximum limits shall be

5% of the maximum limits prescribed or Level of Quantification (LoQ) whichever is higher.

8. Display.— The seller of organic food either exclusively or as part of his retail merchandise shall display such

food in a manner distinguishable from the display of non-organic food.

CHAPTER III

Imports and Reciprocity

9. Import of organic food.— (1)Organic food imports under bilateral or multilateral agreements on the basis of

equivalence of standards between National Programme for Organic Production and the organic standards of the

respective exporting countries shall not be required to be re-certified on import to India subject to their compliance

with the provisions of the Act, the rules and regulation made there under.

(2) The organic food consignments referred to in sub-regulation.—(1) shall be accompanied by a transaction

certificate issued by an Accredited Certification Body covered under the terms of the equivalence agreement.

PAWAN AGARWAL, Chief Executive Officer

[Advt.-III/4/Exty./372/17]

Uploaded by Dte. of Printing at Government of India Press, Ring Road, Mayapuri, New Delhi-110064

and Published by the Controller of Publications, Delhi-110054.

2018-01-04T12:36:20+0530

ALOK KUMAR