Reply: India has not signed any equivalence agreement with any country.
Canada 40:
Report by the Secretariat (WT/TPR/S/249): Part III. Trade Policies and Practices by Measure: (2) Measures Directly Affecting Imports; (x) Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures: paragraph 119, pages 72 73:
The Secretariat's Report notes that, "Once the Food Safety and Standards Regulations, 2010 and Rules 2011 are notified, the Food Safety and Standards Act 2006 will be fully implemented and will repeal some of the separate laws".
Given India's WTO notification of August 1, 2011 of the Food Safety and Standards Regulations, 2011, what does India consider to be the major challenges and opportunities for trading countries as these new / consolidated regulatory regimes become implemented? How will the implementation of this new regulatory regime affect the respective responsibilities of the FSSAI, the Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries, and the Department of Agriculture and Cooperation?
Reply: The Food Safety and Standards Act, Rules and Regulation intend to consolidate food laws in the country from multi level, multi licensing regime to single regulatory point. It will facilitate the trade. All food safety issues will be handled by FSSAI, however quarantine/import of live animals/feed will continue to be dealt with by the concerned ministries.
