Wants Food License Renewal? Follow This Basic Procedure

If you are in a food business, you would understand that obtaining a food license is an important part of operating a restaurant or a food stall. Food license is a guarantee that you are operating under all legal procedures and following all measures of safety and health. Maintaining hygiene in the food business is imperative. Any negligence can lead to serious health problems. Therefore, no business related to food can commence without proper license and procedures. Hence, it is imperative to get a license. If you have FSSAI License then food license renewal is also mandatory.

Obtaining a Food License or Renewing FSSAI License

FSSAI or Food Safety Standard Authority of India is responsible for issuing food licenses. Whether you are a manufacturer, transporter, distributor, retailer and everyone involved in the food supply chain, it is compulsory to obtain a Food License.

Obtaining a food license is not easy. There are numerous steps and procedures that need to be followed before a license is issued to you. There are basically three types of licenses:-

Basic License: For businesses whose Turnover is less than ₹12 Lakh

State License: For businesses whose Turnover is between ₹12 Lakh to ₹20 Crore

Central License: For businesses whose Turnover is above ₹20 Crore

Apart from this, there are other factors like business location, states of operation etc are needed while evaluating the nature of the license.

Step 1: Submission of application form – Whether you are planning to apply for a new license or renewing the license, the application forms for both the procedures are same. As per the FSSAI guidelines, you need to fill form B to apply for a new FSSAI License or renew the existing one. Please read the instructions carefully before filling the form.

Step 2: Documents required – Application form is the preliminary step. Once the form is filled, there are documents related to your business establishment are necessary to attach. These documents would be:-

Print out of the submitted application form B

According to Annexure 1 of FSSAI, a self-attested copy of declaration form needs to be provided

Copy of documents Authority letter from Director, partner or proprietor Copy of property papers (if self-owned) In the case of rented property, a copy of the rent agreement Plan for food safety management Electricity bill or water bill of the business place Individual copies of Aadhar Card/Voters ID or PAN Card of each proprietor, partner or director A canceled cheque VAT or service Tax registration certificate



If you are a food manufacturer, then you would need to submit additional documents along with aforesaid:-

Complete layout plan for a manufacturing unit

List of all equipment and machinery

List of food categories that would be manufactured

Water contamination report of pesticide residue

Production unit photograph

Step 3: Fee Payment – Payment of the fees depending on the nature of your business and which license you are applying for.

Once all these documents are filled, you need to send them to the licensing authorities for further verification. In case any further details or documents would be required by the authority, they would inform you within 15 days of the submission of application. Accordingly, you need to provide the details within the time period mentioned by the authorities.

Step 4: After the receipt of all the documents, the FSSAI would provide you with an Application ID number. This ID would be required for future communication with the authorities.

Step 5: Verification – According to the rules and regulations laid down by FSSAI, on receipt of the application ID, an inspection team would visit your premises to verify the details submitted. The inspection of the property is done keeping in mind all the safety and hygiene standards are maintained to run your business. They can guide you as well as ask you to make changes to ensure general sanitary and hygienic conditions. They would provide you with a time frame to conduct those changes. After the period of 30 days, the authorities may want to re-check the premises or grant a license or even reject a license.

Step 5: License issue – Once FSSAI is satisfied with all the documents and inspections, they can decide you to provide a license number to operate your food business. It is imperative that you have a copy of the license displayed on your premises.

Online Procedure for FSSAI Food License Renewal

You can even follow the online procedure for renewing your food license. The online registration form is available on http://foodlicensing.fssai.gov.in. In order to do so, you need to first create your user id and password to register with FSSAI. Once you have an online account with the authorities, you can start the application procedure.

Imp: The user ID created is only valid for 30 days. Therefore, make sure you complete all the formalities within 30 days; else the ID will be disabled.

Points to remember while filling an online application:-