THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR FOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRIES ( SHRI TH. CHAOBA SINGH )
(a) & (b): Year-wise number of samples of imported items
found not conforming to the requirement under PFA Act, 1954, as
made available for 1999, 2000 and 2001 by Central Food
Laboratories are as under :-
Year No. of Samples found not conforming
1999 549 2000 797 2001 359
This information is not maintained State-wise or territory-wise.
(c): The import of food products are regulated as per the
provisions of Sections 5 and 6 of the PFA Act, 1954. The Custom
Officer may detain the consignment of food and draw the sample
and get it analyzed in Central Food Laboratory to assess the
quality of such food as per the provision contained under PFA
Act and Rules made there under.
The Ministry of Health has initiated number of
measures to sensitize the various agencies dealing with the
import of food as well as the importers/traders.
Sensitization training programmes were organized at
the ports of Mumbai, Kolkata, Delhi, Chennai and Cochin on
30.05.2001, 14.06.2001, 20.06.2001 and 23.06.2001,
respectively. In these training programmes, Officers and Staff
of Customs, Port and Airport Health Organizations, Importers,
Custom House Clearing Agents and Trade Organizations
participated.
Experts from Ministry of Health, DGHS, Ministry of
Finance, Department of Consumer Affairs, Confederation of
Indian Food Trade and Industries (CIFTI), a subsidiary body of
FICCI and Confederation of Indian Industries, explained the
various provisions of different laws relevant to the import of
food products and replied to the queries raised on the subject
during the sensitization programme.
Ministry of Commerce has issued a notification making
provisions that all imported food products shall meet the
requirement as prescribed under PFA Act and Rules made there
under. Accordingly, all the products imported are being
analyzed before release for human consumption. The laboratories
analyzing the samples are checking the labelling provisions in
addition to chemical analysis of food samples.
Department of Food Processing Industries have
released advertisement in National newspapers to create
awareness among the consumers regarding labelling requirements
of imported food products.
