FSSAI registration is mandatory for anyone involved in the food business. Be it food processing, food manufacturing, packaging, distributing, or selling, you need to get an FSSAI registration to run your business.
The registration/licence is issued by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), an institution that monitors food businesses under the guidelines and regulations listed in the FSSAI Act 2006.
Apart from the fact that FSSAI registration is mandatory for your food business, getting it also comes with some benefits:
From hawkers, home vendors to giant food chains everyone operating in the food industry needs to register with FSSAI. Irrespective of whether you are operating online or offline, or whether you are a local player or into the import or export of food products, you need to register with FSSAI. Based on their size and the places they operate, they have to get one of the 3 types of registration/licence that are discussed below.
If your business falls in any one of the below-listed categories, then a food licence is mandatory for you:
In other words, an individual or a company that operates with food substances from farm to plate must obtain the FSSAI food licence.
A food business operator (FBO) who runs their business without registering under FSSAI may face imprisonment and an FSSAI licence penalty of up to ₹5 lakhs for the same.
According to the FSSAI Act, 2006 all food businesses are required to be registered/licenced under the following 3 categories:
It is the primary kind of registration issued for businesses that are small in turnover – up to ₹12 lakhs approximately per annum.
Catering businesses irrespective of their turnover have to apply for a state licence and not a basic FSSAI registration.
Companies that have a profit greater than ₹12 lakhs require a state licence.
The central registration is for bigger businesses that have a turnover of over ₹20 crores per annum.
Companies that supply food to government offices/departments and businesses involved in food import/export, an online platform, operating franchises, or chains of hotels/restaurants have to get a central licence as well.
Based on different types of registration and the food business that you are running, you have to submit different documents for registration.
Including the above-mentioned documents, manufacturing units have to submit the following documents as well: