Updated on July 18, 2024 01:39:39 PM

The Food safety and standard authority has now made it mandatory for all manufacturers to have an FSSAI food license for manufacturer through FSS ACT 2006.

This decision was taken to regulate the industry as the Indian food market is growing rapidly and adding hundreds of new FBOs each year. Thus it has become necessary to lay down new guidelines and rules to govern the food manufacturing sector for better food safety and standards.

FSSAI license for manufacturers has many benefits. It ensures that your business meets the safety, hygiene, and professionalism standards required to be a food manufacturer.

Let’s look at this in detail:

Trust among customers

FSSAI licenses will ensure that your food manufacturing business complies with the hygiene standard. That makes customers feel assured that they buy safe and hygienic products from you. You thus generate their trust, which leads to more business for you.

Increase in revenue

The quality of your food products will improve through regular quality checks in the process of licensing, which makes you stand out from your competitors who are not licensed. Thus, it helps you build a good reputation and a great brand image, leading to greater customer loyalty and increasing your revenue.

Business expansion

FSSAI license for food manufacturing will allow you to grow and expand your business by selling on online marketplaces like Amazon as well as retailing in supermarkets.

The category of food manufacturers in India is vast and ranges from MNCs to small individuals, the criteria to acquire an FSSAI license as a manufacturer depends upon the nature of the kind of businesses (KOBs) of respective FBOs.

The FSSAI Licence is allocated to them based on these classifications:

Such as;

• Manufacturers, irrespective of turnover must obtain an FSSAI State license for manufacturing which includes petty businesses and small individuals running their home bakeries.
• Food business operators with a turnover of more than 20cr rupees or units in more than one state and contractors getting central government contracts to run their businesses at airports, seaports, and railways are also required to have FSSAI central license from authorities.

Getting an FSSAI license for food manufacturing is relatively easy because of the FSSAI web application.

Step-1 Applying for license

1. Go to the FSSAI portal and press apply for license/registration.
2. Select your state.
3. Select the manufacturer license and choose your KOB from the list of subcategories of food manufacturing.
4. Fill out the mandatory form B.
5. Upload your required documents.
6. Pay the fee and submit the form.

After completion 17 digit application reference number will be generated and provided instantly by FSSAI.

Step-2 Inspection by FSSAI

After successfully applying, the concerned authorities will either accept or reject it within 7 working days. If they reject your application, then an inspection will be held by a food safety officer at the premises.

You can easily check your application status with the reference number allocated to you by using our FSSAI Application Status Checker tool.

Step-3 Validation for clearance

Once the food safety officer does the inspection and verification, then approval for clearance will be issued to concerned authorities to issue an FSSAI license for food manufacturing.

Step-4 issuance of license

Once the process is completed license will be issued within 30 working days and a soft copy will be provided to the registered email address.

Note : As per the new norm of FSSAI. The applicants are required to pay only Initial fee of ₹1000 + 18% GST on it for their FSSAI licenses. However once the application is processed and passed by the licensing authorities then the rest of the differential amount i,e respective license fee along with differential GST has to be paid by the applicant within 30 working days. If the applicant failed to pay the amount then approval will be auto rejected.

1. The window for renewal shall be opened for a maximum of up to 180 days before the expiry date for the express renewal facility.
2. In the case renewal of a license is not filed till 30 days before the expiry date, a late fee of INR 100 per day is to be paid by FBO, along with an annual renewal fee.
3. In the case of FBOs filling for renewal from the 1st to 90th-day after the day of expiry, then they shall be charged 3 times the original annual fee respectively and 5 times after the 90th day from the day of expiry.
4. No renewal shall be allowed after 180 days from the original day of expiry.

1. Manufacturers shall not employ any person with the contiguous disease.
2. All food products must be printed with a visible FSSAI license number and FSSAI logo.
3. The manufacturer, and seller, shall not supply any expired product.
4. Manufacturing shall not be done under unhygienic conditions.
5. All manufacturers must have an FSSAI license to operate.

• Substandard food:

  Any manufacturer or a person found indulging in selling or manufacturing substandard food, shall be liable to a penalty maximum of up to 5 lakh rupees.

• Misbranding:

  If any person is misbranding their product or mislabelling, they shall be fined up to 3 lakh rupees.

• Misleading advertisement:

  Companies publishing misleading advertisements of their product that falsely describe the product or misleading as to the nature of substance or quality shall be liable to a penalty of up to 10 lakh rupees.

• Illegal manufacturing:

  Carrying out business without an FSSAI license is a criminal offence that may lead to 6 months of jail or a penalty of up to 10 lakh rupees.

• Adulteration:

  If any person who imports or manufactures for sale, or stores, sells any adulterant shall be a liable penalty from 2 lakh rupees to 10 lakh rupees.