Lok Sabha Question No. 3076 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-12-06
Subject: FSSAI Licence to Packaged Drinking Water
Ministry: HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE
Asked by: Jyotirmay Singh Mahato

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE

LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3076 TO BE ANSWERED ON 6 TH DECEMBER, 2019

## FSSAI LICENCE TO PAC KAGED DRINKING WATER

## 3076. SHRI JYOTIRMAY SINGH MAHATO:

Will the Minister of HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government or its agencies have conducted any survey or safety audit to find out  as  to  how  the bottling  units  of  packaged  drinking  water are  functioning  without appropriate licence;
- (b) if so, the details thereof during the last three years and if not, the reasons therefor;
- (c) whether all the drinking water operators are manufacturing and selling packaged drinking water with FSSAI or BIS certification across the country, if so, the details thereof indicating the number of units operating with proper certification; and
- (d) if not, the action taken against such u i s which are not complying with the quality and regulatory standards during the last five years?

## ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE

(SHRI ASHWINI KUMAR CHOUBEY)

(a) to (c): No such survey has been conducted by Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). However, as per Section 31(1) of Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 'No person shall commence or carry on any food business except under a licence'.

Further,  as  per  the  sub -regulation  2.3.14  (17)  &  2.3.14  (18)  of  Food  Safety  and Standards  (Prohibition  a nd  Restriction  on  Sales)  Regulations,  2011 'No  person  shall manufacture, sell or exhibit for sale of packaged drinking water and mineral water e under the Bureau of Indian Standards Certification Mark'. Therefore, a packaged drinking water  unit  is  req uired  to  obtain      license  under  Food  Safety  and  Standards  Act  and  al Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) certification.

The standards of packaged mineral water and packaged drinking water (other th mineral water) have been prescribed under sub - regulatio ns 2.10.7 and 2.10.8 of Food Safety and Standards (Food product standards and food Additives) Regulations, 2011 respectivel

As enforcement  of  provisions  of  FSS  Act  2006,  Rules  and  Regulations  made thereunder primarily lies with States/UTs, FSSAI has is sued instructions from time to time to States/UTs to carry out regular enforcement/surveillance activities in their area of ju and ensure that no bottling units of packaged drinking water operates their business FSSAI License and BIS Cert ification and that the packaged drinking water meets the quali standards.  Regular  surveillance,  monitoring,  inspection  and  random  sampling  of  f products including packaged drinking water is being done by the Officials of Food S Departments of the r spective States/ UTs to check compliance of the standards laid dow under Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, and the rules and regulations made thereun In  cases  where  the  food  samples  are  found  to  be  non - conforming,  penal  action  has  been initiated against the defaulting Food Business Operators as per penal provisions prescr under Chapter IX of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006.

Bureau  of  Indian  Standards  (BIS)  has  informed  that  they  grant  licences manufacturing units producing Package d Drinking Water for the use of BIS Standard Mark on their product conforming to  Indian Standard  IS 14543: 2016. As on 02.12.2019, 62 licences to use BIS Standards Mark on Packaged Drinking Water as per Indian Standard 14543:2004, are in operation. In case of misuse of ISI mark by unlicensed manufacturers, search and seizure operations are carried out by BIS and legal action is taken.

(d): Based on information received from States/UTs, details of action taken against Business Operators by FSSAI for not meeting norms related to packaged drinking water for a period of five years upto 2017 - 18 is given at Annexure-I .

As  per  information  provided  by  BIS,  total  number  of  search  &  seizure  operatio carried  out  in  the  last  five  years  for  Packaged Drinking  water/Packaged  Natural  Mineral Water is given at Annexure -II.

Annexure-I

| Year    |   no. of samples analysed |   no. of samples found non- conforming |   no. of cases launched |   No. of convictions | No. of Penalties/Amount of Penalty   |
|---------|---------------------------|----------------------------------------|-------------------------|----------------------|--------------------------------------|
| 2013-14 |                      2977 |                                    577 |                     169 |                    4 | NA/10,79,150                         |
| 2014-15 |                       734 |                                    226 |                     130 |                   16 | 14/3,18,000                          |
| 2015-16 |                       767 |                                    345 |                     176 |                   39 | 64/30,49,100                         |
| 2016-17 |                       697 |                                    224 |                     131 |                   33 | 40/7,05,500                          |
| 2017-18 |                      1123 |                                    496 |                     246 |                   97 | 135/39,69,500                        |

## Annexure-II

No. of Search and Seizures carried out for the last five years for Packaged Drinking Water/Natural Mineral water

|   2015-16 |   2016-17 |   2017-18 |   2018-19 |   2019-20 (as on 03/12/2019) |
|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|------------------------------|
|        74 |        51 |        41 |        56 |                           12 |

Case of misuse in respect of Packaged Natural Mineral Water: Nil