FSSAI Explained: Food Safety Certification for Indian Exporters
What FSSAI actually certifies, the difference between State and Central licences, and how buyers should verify a supplier's registration before placing an order.
FSSAI — the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India — is the country's single-window food regulator. Any Indian business that manufactures, processes, packs, or exports food must hold a valid FSSAI licence or registration. For buyers, it's the baseline hygiene check on the supplier side.
What FSSAI covers
FSSAI operates under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006. It regulates:
- →Manufacturing and processing facilities.
- →Storage, transport, and distribution.
- →Import and export of food products.
- →Labelling, additives, and permissible standards.
The authority's official site — fssai.gov.in — publishes regulations, notifications, and the current standards for each food category.
The three tiers of registration
FSSAI operates a tiered system based on turnover and scale. For export purposes, only the Central Licence matters.
- →Basic Registration — Annual turnover up to ₹12 lakh. Small retailers, petty food operators. Not export-eligible.
- →State Licence — Turnover between ₹12 lakh and ₹20 crore. Domestic distribution only.
- →Central Licence — Turnover above ₹20 crore, plus any facility involved in import/export regardless of turnover. This is what an exporter must have.
Any Indian food exporter — even a small one — is required to hold a Central Licence because of the export activity, not the turnover threshold.
How to verify a supplier's FSSAI licence
Applications and licences are managed via the FoSCoS portal (Food Safety and Compliance System). Buyers can:
- →Ask the exporter for their 14-digit FSSAI licence number.
- →Search it on the FoSCoS licence-verification tool to confirm status, validity, and the categories covered.
- →Cross-check that the licence's declared kind of business includes "Exporter" and covers the specific food category (spices, cereals, processed foods, etc.).
A valid Central Licence is displayed on the exporter's premises and printed on export cartons alongside the FSSAI logo.
What the FSSAI licence does *not* cover
FSSAI is a food-safety and standards licence, not a market-access certification. It doesn't automatically satisfy:
- →Destination-country food safety requirements — the US FDA, EU DG-SANTE, Saudi SFDA, and Japan MHLW each maintain their own regulatory regimes.
- →Faith-based certifications — Halal and Kosher are separate; FSSAI does not certify religious compliance.
- →Organic certifications — see the NPOP / USDA / EU Organic guide.
For food exports, treat FSSAI as one layer of a stack — necessary but not sufficient.
FSSAI's export-specific regulations
FSSAI issues additional notifications for exports:
- →Food Import Regulations 2017 — governs food imported into India.
- →Export Registration — food exporters must obtain a specific registration if they intend to ship to certain destinations.
- →Third-country certifications — FSSAI increasingly co-signs export health certificates for destinations like the EU and Iran.
The full text of these regulations lives under fssai.gov.in/cms/food-safety-and-standards-regulations.
What to ask an exporter
Before signing a purchase order for any food product:
- →Copy of the FSSAI Central Licence with the correct product category.
- →Licence validity — Central Licences are annual; ask for renewal history.
- →Scanned copy of the exporter's most recent facility audit (voluntary but common).
- →Confirmation that batch-level FSSAI compliance data (allergens, additives) is available on request.
FSSAI is the floor, not the ceiling. Every serious buyer stacks HACCP, ISO 22000, or a buyer-chain audit (BRCGS, SQF) on top of it. But without a valid FSSAI licence at the base, none of that upper stack legally applies.