FSSAI Can't Regulate Animal Feed Under Food Safety Law, Scheme Limited To Food For Human Consumption: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday held that the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) cannot regulate animal or cattle feed under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, as the legislation is confined to food meant for human consumption.

A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia allowed a plea filed by Godrej Agrovet Ltd. and struck down Note (c) appended to Regulation 2.5.2 of the Food Safety and Standards (Food Products Standards and Food Additives) Regulations, 2011, as amended in 2021.

The impugned note laid down conditions relating to animal feed used for milk and meat-producing animals.

It provided that milk and meat producing animals, excluding poultry, pig and fish, cannot be fed with feed containing meat or bone meal including internal organs, blood meal and tissue of bovine or porcine origin materials except milk and milk products. It also mandated that commercial feeds shall comply with BIS standards.

The Court underscored that the entire scheme of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 is limited to regulating food intended for human consumption. It said that the Act uses expressions like food safety, primary food, unsafe food, sale of food etc. which could not include any feed or food not meant for human consumption such as cattle feed or animal feed.

“The impugned Note (c) thus regulates feed to be given to milk and meat producing animals. In other words it regulates the cattle or animal feed, which is clearly outside the scope of the Act, 2006 in the sense that the very scheme of the Act is such that the provisions therein can be put to service only to regulate the food for human consumption and not the feed for the use of cattle or animals,” the Court said.

The Bench held that in absence of specific inclusion of any substance as food for animal consumption or cattle feed or feed for animal in the definition clause, all the functions of the Food Authority and duties cast on it are in relation to food for human consumption and will not include the animal or cattle feed.

It concluded that any Regulation made by the Food Authority regulating cattle feed or animal feed would travel beyond the scope of the 2006 Act, which is the enabling Legislation.

“The impugned Regulation, specifically Note (c), thus not only is beyond the scheme and scope of the Act, 2006 but it also clearly appears to be inconsistent with the enabling Legislation for the reason that enabling Legislation does not confer any authority or power to the Food Authority to make any such Regulation where regulation of cattle feed and animal feed is sought,” the Bench held.

It further held that BIS standards are voluntary unless made mandatory by Central Government notification and that no such notification under the Bureau of Indian Standards Act, 2016 was produced.

Title: GODREJ AGROVET LTD v. FOOD SAFETY AND STANDARDS AUTHORITY OF INDIA & ANR

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