UT health department finds purchase bills missing from retailers/stores/vendors

If purchase bills are not produced at the time of sampling or inspection, and are in any violations of the Food Safety and Standards Act, stringent steps will be taken against retailers, stores, or vendors

UT health secretary Yashpal Garg reviewed the status of inspections and sampling done by the food safety department and it revealed that in almost all the cases, the purchase bills were not produced by the retailers, vendors, or stores.

The purchase bills were not produced by the retailers, vendors, or stores during the inspections and sampling done by the food safety department. (HT File)

“The retailers, vendors and stores which are registered under the GST Act cannot purchase/ sell the items without a bill. It has been learnt that the purchase bills are not being produced as a well-considered strategy to save the manufacturers or distributors of the branded items and to reduce the impact of actions in case of any violations under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006”, Yashpal Garg said.

Manufacturer or distributer will be dealt strictly if a branded item found to be of sub-standard quality or unsafe for consumption. In case of unsafe food items, there is immediate need for action to recall the whole batch/lot of the particular item in accordance with the union ministry orders, so that unsafe food items are not sold further.

The food safety department has been asked to ensure the status of registration under GST Act at the time of grant of registration/licence and its renewal. Meanwhile, during inspection or sampling, the inspecting officers must clearly record the status of registration under GST Act in the inspection/ sealing memo.

Also, in all the cases where samples or inspections were done from April 1 this year but bills were not produced, the health department is instructed to provide details of such shopkeepers and to share it with the GST department, within the next 15 days.

If purchase bills are not produced at the time of sampling or inspection, and are in any violations of the Food Safety and Standards Act, stringent steps will be taken against manufacturer or distributor.

Besides this, if manufacturer/distributor has stopped the production of any such item, and retailer/vendor/store found to be selling them, then they will be dealt with strict actions.