The Indian Food Safety and Standards (Organic Foods) Regulations 2017, the ‘Jaivik Bharat’ Logo (a common logo for “Organic Foods”) and the “Indian Organic Integrity Database Portal” were announced during the 19th Organic World Congress by the Minister for Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare, Shri Radha Mohan Singh.
Indian Organic Integrity Database Portal
A regulatory portal jointly developed by FSSAI, APEDA and (PGS-India) providing information on certification processes, information relating to FBOs, their products and the geographical areas in which they are available.
Organic Food products may be searched by name of the food and by the name of the company to assist consumers to verify the authenticity of organic foods.
One single unified logo for organic food
The “Jaivik Bharat” logo will now signify Organic Food from India and communicate adherence to the National Organic Standards.
Please visit the Jaivik Bharat website for further information on this development.
Food Safety and Standards (Organic Foods) Regulations 2017
The Food Safety and Standards (Organic Foods) Regulations 2017 covers under its ambit two existing systems of organic certification: the National Programme for Organic Production (NPOP) of APEDA, Department of Commerce and Participatory Guarantee System for India (PGS-India) of Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare. The regulation also provides for recognition of other certification systems in the future.
FSSAI is mandated to regulate organic food in the country under the provisions of Section 22 of the Food Safety & Standards Act, 2006.
Direct sales of organic food are excepted
Under the Food Safety and Standards (Organic Foods) Regulations, 2017, any foods offered or promoted for sale as Organic Foods are required to comply with all the requirements of NPOP or PGS-India or any other certification system that may be approved by FSSAI in future. However, direct sales of organic food by small farmers, producer or producer organization to the end-consumer is exempt from this requirement. All organic foods under the regulation have to comply with other Regulations of FSSAI as applicable.
