Close to two lakh businessmen in the food industry in Ahmedabad will no longer require health licence from Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC), after the state Urban Development Department (UDD), on October 24, ordered the withdrawal of the licence, citing that the central regulation of Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has been in place for over 10 years now.
The move brings an end to the dual licensing norm for players in hotels, restaurants, sweet manufacturers, farsan manufacturers, bakery and associated sectors, where an estimated two lakh businessmen are involved in Ahmedabad city, according to industry sources. However, the AMC will continue checking food samples.
"As the FSSAI has become applicable across India, local licences have automatically become redundant. But local bodies in Gujarat continued with their health licence rule. Most of the large local bodies abolished their health licence in 2016, after business bodies, led by the Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI), protested," GCCI president Shailesh Patwari told media persons here on Friday.
In 2016, the municipal corporations of Vadodara, Surat, Rajkot, Bhavnagar and Jamanagar had unilaterally withdrawn their health licence. Now, with the UDD clarifying that local bodies are no longer required to give health licences, the order will apply to all the local bodies and the practice will automatically discontinue if it is prevalent in any of the municipalities.
Hiren Gandhi, chairman of the Food Committee of GCCI, said local health licence was a major stumbling block in 'ease of doing business' in the state.
Ashwin Mehta, co-chairman of the Food Committee of GCCI and president of Amdavad Hotel Owners Association, welcomed the move, saying that things will now be easier for players in the sector. Patwari said the AMC used to file criminal cases and issue warrants and cases had gone to Metropolitan courts.
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