Small Organic Producers Can Sell Produce Without Certification till April 2020: FSSAI

Food safety regulator, FSSAI has allowed the small organic producers with annual turnover of more than Rs 12 lakh, to sell their produce to end-consumers directly without certification till April 2020. However, such producers will not be able to make use of ‘Jaivik Bharat logo’ on their products, according to a latest report.

It is important to mention that the Jaivik Bharat logo is an identity mark to differentiate organic products from non-organic.

Aggregators with a yearly turnover of Rs. 50 lakh have been given a similar relaxation. But, the organic food retail companies have to abide by the certification norm.

Under the 2017 organic regulation, sale of organic produce directly to end-consumer has been permitted only with the certification of the NPOP (National Programme for Organic Production) & PGS (Participatory Guarantee System) India.

The Food Safety & Standards Authority in an order told that the rules were relaxed after it examined numerous representations regarding challenges faced in the execution of regulations by organic food business operations that included small original producers.

It said, “One of the challenges is that there are a huge number of producers & producer organisations in India who are not certified under any of the two systems of certification. Efforts are ongoing for simplification of PGS-India to make it small producer friendly”.

In order to build confidence in small producers, the FSSAI said that these regulations could be considered as ‘enabling regulations’ & not be considered for prosecution mainly for small original producers as well as producer organisations during preliminary phase of its implementation till April 2020.

The FSSAI said self-certification of turnover of small organic producers & aggregators will be considered. On the other hand, state food safety officials have been asked to observe if the restrictions of contaminants and insecticide remains as per the regulations are being followed. They have also been asked to check if there is any misuse of this provision.