All need to know how to resubmit the FSSAI rejected application

Introduction

The Food Safety and Standers Authority of India (FSSAI) governs the activity related to the food business. Any food business in order to perform quality assurance on pursuits such as food product manufacturing, distribution, storage, and transportation requires an FSSAI license. As registration for a license is on the basis of the annual turnover of the business like basic, state, or central license. Just submitting the application for registration does not guarantee approval for it, instead, it can be rejected on several bases like technical error, glitch, or improper information. Businesses have been baffled for years by one of the fundamental worries regarding the rejection of the FSSAI application. So FSSAI has established a standard operating procedure (SOP), where the applicant can make a request online to reactivate the application which was rejected on several bases. In this blog, we will discuss the types of approval for FSSAI license as per the food business operator license, and the process to resubmit the FSSAI rejected application.

Types of approval for FSSAI license

A food business operator (FBO) seeking registration or license from the FSSAI, should be engaged in food activities. This 14-digit number may be found printed on all of the food packagings that the FBO provides. It is done to hold the FBO more responsible for the work being done and the commodities being sold. It requires food company owners to adhere to mandatory standards in order to guarantee the safety of their products. The registration or license for an FBO depends upon the annual turnover of the business. So as per the annual turnover of FBO licenses, there are 3 types of approval for FSSAI licenses which are as follows:

1. Basic license registration: Small business owners and minor food operators are generally covered by the basic FSSAI registration. A small business that has annual revenue of less than INR 12 lakh and a food product production capacity of less than 100 litres/kg per day must apply for an FSSAI Basic Registration certificate. A minimum of 1 year and a maximum of 5 years are allowed for the license.

2. State license registration: Businesses must get an FSSAI state license if their annual revenue exceeds 12 lacks up to 20 crores. Small- to medium-sized enterprises, merchants, restaurant marketers, storage facilities, wholesalers, and others frequently choose this state license. A minimum of 1 year and a maximum of 5 years are allowed for the license.

3. Central license registration: Businesses must get an FSSAI central license if their annual turnover exceeds 20 crores. Importers, manufacturers, federal government operators, airports, seaports, and railroads are just a few of the entities that exclusively need this license. A minimum of 1 year and a maximum of 5 years are allowed for the license.

What to do in order to resubmit the FSSAI rejected application?

Mere applying for a license doesn’t guarantee that the license will be issued as there are plenty of reasons for the rejection of the application. This has led to the establishment of a standard operating procedure (SOP) by FSSAI on 7th July 2020. The SOP will help to resubmit the FSSAI rejected application online. It is stated that based on 4 cases the application can be rejected as listed below:

• Applications that are inadvertently rejected by an FBO during processing.
• Applications that are rejected due to a technical error or glitch.
• Applications that are automatically rejected by the system due to missing papers or information from an FBO within 30 days.
• Applications that are rejected by the designation office (DO), in case of missing papers or information that was necessary for the application.

As there are three types of registration based on annual turnover, then the resubmitting of those will be different in the manner which is mentioned below:

A. Resubmit the basic or state FSSAI license application

The following is the process to resubmit the basic or state FSSAI license application:

• Within six months after the rejection date, all such candidates must re-apply with their respective State Food Safety Commissioner.
• A designated officer (DO) in the event of registration or the state’s Commissioner of Food Safety (CFS) in the event of a state license will review the request on the basis of the merit of the case.
• On the recommendation of his/her, the application will be communicated to the Regional Compliance Division (RCD) within 30 days of receiving the request at enforcement1@fssai.gov.in.
• The IT Division will receive a recommendation from the designated officer/State Commissioner for the application’s reactivation.
• When the regional compliance division makes such a request, the IT Division will respond by reactivating the pertinent application and notifying the DO and CFS of the change.

B. Resubmit the central FSSAI license application

The following is the process to resubmit the central FSSAI license application:

• Within six months of the date of refusal, all such candidates must submit an application to the FSSAI Regional Office in their respective regions.
• The Regional Office’s director will review the case on merit and within 30 days of receiving such a request from an FBO, the recommendation must be sent to the FSSAI headquarters at enforcement@fssai.gov.in.
• The Regulatory Compliance Division will review the case on the recommendation of the Regional Office, and the RCD executive director is the competent authority to decide in such matters.
• The RCD will refer the IT division with regard to the approval of the matter. The FSSAI application will be reactivated;
• A Food Business Operator can go immediately to the FSSAI headquarters in an urgent situation, and in this situation, the CEO will decide on the merit of the case

Conclusion

It is emphasized again that merely completing and submitting the FSSAI application form does not ensure that you will receive a registration or license from the FSSAI. If it doesn’t meet the conditions and requirements, it can be rejected. But now with the Standard operating procedure (SOP) function, applicants can easily fix the problems without hazy and complicated procedures to respond to a rejected application. The new feature of Standard operating procedure (SOP) enables the applicant to resubmit the FSSAI-rejected license application without being bogged down by onerous or pointless criteria. The applicant can anticipate a prompt response from the authorities while using this service.

Suggested Read – Recent modifications in FSSAI License