Without vision

The process of enacting a new food law to integrate over a dozen existing laws administered by nearly nine ministries has been dragging on for years. Even after its introduction in Parliament, the Food Safety and Standards Bill, 2005, has not been considered and passed by the House so far. But this, in a way, seems a blessing in disguise. For, all is not well with the Bill in its present form. In fact, several sections of the food-based industry have openly expressed their dissatisfaction over some of the provisions of the Bill. No doubt, it does away with many of the irritants that were keeping the potential investors in this sector at bay, but it does not go far enough to ensure a smooth run for the emerging industry. As such, it is doubtful whether the proposed measure will enable the government to realise its vision of making India the food factory of the world by 2015 or doubling the country's share in global agri-trade from the present meagre 1.5 per cent.

On the positive side, the very objective of ending the multiplicity of laws and authority through an integrated statute is laudable. For this, the Bill seeks to set up a food safety and standards authority to regulate the entire sector in all respects, including laying down the norms for product quality and labelling of packaged foods. But the lacuna in the Bill seems to far outweigh the good provisions. For one, the enforcement of the law has been left to the local level officials (read food inspectors). This would, obviously, leave scope for undue harassment and corruption, especially because the proposed law requires mandatory registration and licensing of all players in the food sector, including the unorganised food sector. Though some concessions have been mooted for the street vendors and the millions of petty ventures preparing and selling food products, they will also have to follow the same quality standards as by the mechanised food factories. Though this provision is well-intended in that even customers of road-side food stalls have a right to clean food, it would surely create practical problems and breed corruption. Food vendors in many other countries, such as Malaysia and Singapore, get several facilities like supply of clean water and rubbish disposal, which are not available to their Indian counterparts. This apart, in the absence of adequate infrastructure of well-equipped quality testing laboratories, even the organised sector industry may face troubles on this count.

Another serious lacuna in the Bill is the exclusion from its purview potable water, usually supplied by local civic authorities, and animal feed, which determines the ultimate quality of milk and milk-based products. Impurities and toxic residues could sneak into food products through this route even while the real culprit would remain untraceable and, hence go unpunished. In view of all this, it may be worthwhile for the government to revisit the provisions of the Bill and modify them after wider consultations with, among others, the stakeholders who are going to be affected by it. If the intention of the mooted law is to create an environment conducive to the growth of this sector, then the scope for undue harassment of food manufacturers has to be totally eliminated. Otherwise, the new statute may not serve the purpose for which it is being enacted.