The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has notified amendments to the Food Safety and Standards (Licensing and Registration of Food Businesses) Regulations, 2011, in a move aimed at rationalising compliance requirements while maintaining core food safety standards.
Under the revised framework, the requirement to maintain stock rotation records based on First In First Out (FIFO) or First Expiry First Out (FEFO) principles will now apply only to food manufacturing businesses. Earlier, these obligations were imposed uniformly across all licensed food business operators (FBOs), including retailers and distributors.
Non-manufacturing entities, such as retailers and other downstream food businesses, have been exempted from these requirements.
The government said the change is intended to align regulatory obligations with risk profiles, recognising that stringent inventory controls are critical primarily at the manufacturing stage for ensuring product safety, quality assurance, and traceability.
The amendment forms part of a broader regulatory reform agenda pursued by the Ministry to improve ease of doing business and transition towards risk-based, outcome-oriented regulation.
