Tirupur: The Food Safety and Drug Administration (FSDA) started its second phase of enrolment camps for food business operators (FBO) in the district on Tuesday at CM Unavagam in Palladam. The enrolment drive would end on January 12.
The FSDA asked FBOs to use e-services, which was launched on Monday, for registration and for getting licences.
Till now, 65% of the 18,585 FBOs in the district have either registered or submitted applications for the purpose. "With the first phase of special enrolment camps held last month, Tirupur FSDA was able to increase the percentage of enrolled entities from 46% to 65%. The state food commissioner has fixed January 15 as the deadline to achieve 100% registration," said K Tamil Selvan, designated officer of Tirupur FSDA.
"For registration or to obtain licence, the FBOs could submit application at the common e-services centres (CSC) with the required documents and registration fees. The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) started the online services for the purpose in Tamil Nadu on Monday," said Tamil Selvan.
As per the FSSAI norms, the food selling entities, from hawker to business class hotels, should pay Rs 100 as an annual registration fee if it has a turnover under Rs 12 lakh and 2,000 if the turnover exceeds Rs 12 lakh.
In case of the food manufacturing units, the registration fee is Rs 3,000 if the total production is less than one tonne a day and Rs 5,000 for 1-2 tonnes a day.
Earlier, the FSSAI wanted the FSDA to get all FBOs registered or obtained licences before the last year. But around 50% of the entities across the state were yet to enrol.
The enrolment would help the department to keep a tab on the quality of foods produced and sold in the FBOs. So, the FSDA was carrying out door-to-door campaigns to create awareness. "If the FBOs fail to come forward for registration, we would serve them with legal notices," Tamil Selvan added.
