FSSAI rolls out short-term licences for seasonal food businesses

FSSAI has launched a new provision to grant short-duration registration certificates for seasonal food businesses operating during temporary events like fairs and food festivals. The registration, issued through the FoSCoS portal, will be valid for up to three months, non-renewable, and applicable only to retailers, food vending machines, and petty food service providers.

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has introduced a new provision to issue short-duration registration certificates for seasonal food businesses that operate during temporary events such as religious fairs and food festivals. This initiative aims to simplify compliance and facilitate small and seasonal vendors to operate legally during such occasions.

According to the FSSAI’s order, “With the approval of the food authority, a provision in FoSCoS for granting registration certificates to seasonal food business during short events such as religious fairs, food festivals etc. has been created under the window of the Registering Authority.”

The provision outlines several conditions. The Registering Authority will fill Form A on behalf of the food business operator (FBO), detailing the type of business (KoB). The registration applies only to retailers, food vending machines, and food service providers, including petty retailers and hawkers. The certificate will be valid for a maximum period of three months and will not be renewable. A nominal fee of Rs. 100 will be charged for the registration, although hawkers have been exempted from paying this fee.

FSSAI clarified that the concept of operating a seasonal food business was already mentioned under Form A of Schedule 2 in the FSS Licensing and Registration of Food Business Regulations. However, the FoSCoS (Food Safety Compliance System) portal earlier lacked a specific provision to grant such short-term registrations online.

Recognizing this gap, the food authority has now enabled the functionality on the FoSCoS portal to issue seasonal business registrations. This move is expected to benefit small food operators who participate in temporary or periodic events, ensuring their compliance with food safety standards while also streamlining the regulatory process for authorities.