Revised Guidelines of Food Business Annual Return Filing

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) on December 18, 2020, has issued a Notification regarding the Revised Guidelines of Food Business Annual Return Filing. With this notification, FSSAI mandates online submission of Annual Return by Food Business involved in manufacturing and importing of food products with effect from FY 2020-2021. The revised format of Annual Return has already been incorporated in Food Safety Compliance System (FOSCOS) and the window for return filing for FY 2020-2021 will open with effect from 1^st, April 2021 onwards. The current article briefs the Revised Guidelines of Food Business Annual Return Filing.

Benefits Revised format of Annual Return

The provision of mandatory online submission of returns would further lead to other benefits:

The food business need not maintain receipts and records of physical nature.
food business operators(FBO)s shall be saved from inadvertent penalties
Reminders for submission of annual returns would be sent digitally. Country/State-wise analysis of data will be possible.
Updated data would be available, as till now all analysis is based on the data provided by the food businesses at the time of obtaining a license, etc

Earlier format for Annual/Half -Yearly Return for Food Business

According to the Food Safety and Standards (Licensing and registration) Regulations, 2011, food businesses having an FSSAI license need to file FSSAI returns. The FSSAI returns are basically of two types:

FSSAI Annual Return – Form D1

Food Business Operators (FBO) involved in the manufacturing and importing of food products need to submit Annual Returns by 31st May of every preceding financial year. The FSSAI Annual Return is required to be filed in a prescribed format(Form D1) laid down by the concerned Food Safety Commissioner concerning the category of food products manufactured or sold by the business during the previous financial year

FSSAI Half Yearly Return – Form D2

Manufacturers of Milk and Milk products need to submit Half-yearly returns within one month of completion of the previous half-year. According to the FSSAI regulation, all manufacturers of milk and milk products having an FSSAI license need to file the half-yearly returns known as Form D2. The half-yearly returns in Form D2 are of 2 types as mentioned below:

The one related to the period from 1st April to 30th September every year
The one related to the period from 1st October to 31st March every year.

Revised Format of Annual/Half -Yearly Return

As per the revised guidelines of FSSAI, For food business involved in manufacturing of milk and milk products, half-yearly return (Form D2) shall be discontinued. They shall be required to file the annual return for manufactures as per the revised format online. Note: A food business is required to file a separate FSSAI Annual return for every FSSAI license issued under the FSSAI regulations, irrespective of whether the same Food Business Operator holds more than one license. Know more about the FSSAI Registration/Licensing in India

Food Business Annual/ Half -Yearly Return Filing Date Extension

On account of the prevailing lockdown in India for the COVID-19 pandemic, the Food Business Operator (FBO) is facing difficulties in the submission of Annual/Half-yearly return. Considering the issues, the Food Safety Standard Authority of India has issued a circular concerning the extension of the timeline for filing Annual/Half-yearly Returns for Food Business. As per this notification, FSSAI extended the timeline for submission of annual return for the financial year 2019-2020 and a half-yearly return for the October 2019 – March 2020 till 31st December 2020. In this regard, the following procedural formalities need to be followed by FBO for filing Annual/ Half -Yearly Return.