Apply FSSAI circular on duty free shops: HC

MUMBAI: The Bombay high court on Wednesday directed the Centre and state government to ensure the implementation of the recent Food Safety and Standards Authority

MUMBAI: The Bombay high court on Wednesday directed the Centre and state government to ensure the implementation of the recent Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) circular that exempts duty free shops from its food import quality control checks.

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This was after the court observed that food, beverages, liquor, etc, sold at duty free shops at airports across the country are beyond the purview of domestic food safety regulations and thus, are not required to meet the guidelines of FSSAI.

A bench led by justice SC Dharmadhikari held that the duty free shops constitute a retail channel “different” from the domestic market, and the goods sold at duty free shops could not be considered as imports.

The bench was hearing a petition filed by DFS against the customs department’s decision to confiscate their goods on the ground that they had not been verified by FSSAI.

Appearing for the petitioners, senior advocate Janak Dwarkadas argued that the DFS goods cannot be governed by domestic food regulations since the products sold there are “not technically on Indian soil.”

Meanwhile, appearing for FSSAI, advocate Rui Roderigues, told the high court that till the time the new import regulations are notified, it had no objection to keeping duty free shops outside the ambit of Food Safety Standards Act 2006.