The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has amended its licensing and registration regulations, providing significant relief to small and medium food business operators by easing compliance requirements for non-manufacturing food businesses.
Under the revised framework, food traders engaged solely in the sale of food products and not in manufacturing have been exempted from maintaining daily inventory records.
Earlier, licensed grocery stores, retailers, wholesalers and distributors were required to maintain daily stock records based on the “First In, First Out” (FIFO) or “First Expiry, First Out” (FEFO) principles. Industry experts believe the removal of this requirement will substantially reduce the administrative burden on traders.
To operationalise the change, the FSSAI has inserted a provision in Schedule 2 of the Food Safety and Standards (Licensing and Registration of Food Businesses) Regulations, 2011, specifying that the inventory record-keeping requirement “shall not be applicable to non-manufacturing food businesses.”
The authority has also amended Regulation 5.2.5 under Schedule 4 relating to FIFO and FEFO storage practices, clarifying that these provisions will not apply to retailers.
According to the FSSAI, the amendments are aimed at improving the ease of doing business by reducing regulatory compliance for food traders while maintaining food safety standards.
Welcoming the move, Shankar Thakkar, national president of the All-India Edible Oil Traders Federation and national secretary of the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), said the changes would free retailers from the burden of extensive documentation.
He noted that the relaxation applies only to retail traders who are not engaged in manufacturing. Food processing units, factories and manufacturers will continue to maintain production and batch records to ensure traceability, consumer safety and compliance with food quality standards.
Thakkar further said that, based on recommendations from NITI Aayog, the FSSAI has introduced several trader-friendly reforms in recent years. These include replacing periodic food licence renewals with lifetime validity subject to prescribed conditions, increasing the annual turnover threshold for basic registration to reduce the compliance burden on small businesses, and removing duplicate regulatory provisions applicable to roadside street vendors.