The Hindu Business Line : `Food law can be based on other country models'

EVEN as the Group of Ministers (GoM), under the chairmanship of the Commerce Minister, works at putting in place an integrated food law - the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) feels that India could do well to echo the practice prevalent in other regions.

"Most countries in the world have unified and highly focussed enforcement of food laws, through one or two ministries that are completely responsible for food safety and quality standards," they observed.

In the US, there is one Food and Drug Administration, while in the Asian region, there is: Malaysia Food Act (1983), Thailand Food Act, Indonesia Food Regulation, Pakistan Food Regulation and Pakistan Pure Food Ordinance, it pointed out.

Besides a unified law for a single country, a group of countries get together to further facilitate trade through harmonised requirements - the EU Food Regulations and the Australia New Zealand Food Authority being a case in point.

Besides the much talked about issue of multiplicity of laws governing the segment, another factor adding to the industry's woes is the "anomalies and outdated provisions of these laws," the industry association pointed out.

"The focus of these laws was not on compliance and ensuring food safety but on prosecution. Most of these laws originated around 1950-1960, as a consequence of the crisis situation then." And this has resulted in fruits and vegetables to the tune of Rs 23,000 crore and food grains of an estimated Rs 50,000 crore being wasted annually on account of an emaciated food chain, the FICCI note said.

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`Food law can be based on other country models'