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CAG report finds non-availability of comprehensive database of FBOs in TN
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Tuesday, 06 May, 2025, 08 : 00 AM [IST]
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Ashwani Maindola, New Delhi
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A CAG report on Compliance Audits on ‘Enforcement of Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006’ in Tamil Nadu has found ‘non-availability of comprehensive database of Food Business Operators’ in the state.
The report says that the State Department of Health had not considered the trade licences granted to FBOs in Tamil Nadu by Corporations/Municipalities/Local Bodies so as to bring those FBOs under the purview of the FSS Act and enter them into the State Food Safety Wing's database.
“The Department is required to liaise with other Government departments by bringing all unregistered and unlicensed FBOs under the ambit of the FSS Act, and strengthen its database,” reads the CAG Report No. 1 of 2025 for the year ending 2023.
The Audit also observed that the FSOs (Food Safety Officers) in the selected districts (for survey) were not having complete data of FBOs functioning within the area assigned to them.
“This paved way for the presence of non-standardised food items in the market for consumption of the general public,” the Audit report observed, while adding that the audit findings were substantiated by the fact that during the joint physical verification, 48 out of 191 FBOs (25 per cent) were functioning without a valid Licence/Registration Certificate, revealing the presence of unregistered/unlicensed FBOs in the market.
A pilot study on the compliance of Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, was conducted during December 2022 and based on this, the audit was taken up covering a three-year period from 2020-21 to 2022-23. The audit was conducted during the period from July 2023 to November 2023.
Scrutiny of relevant records of the Department at the Government level, test check of records at the selected District offices including Adjudicating Officers (AOs), Food Safety Appellate Tribunal and other connected offices was carried out during the Audit.
Joint Physical Verification (JPV) of Food Business Operators in the sampled units along with the departmental officials was also conducted to assess the status and effectiveness of enforcement of the FSS Act.
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