FSSAI told to forget about America and learn from China and Vietnam

Currently, it closely follows the US Food and Drug Administration to set standards and rules regarding food safety, though these are not appropriate for India’s level of development. 

Following an audit of the FSSAI’s regulations, World Bank agency the Global Food Safety Partnership found that India should look beyond American regulations.

Instead, it should forge closer partnerships with nations like China and Vietnam, which “are facing similar issues at present or have faced them recently and moved through them​”.

The GFSI’s report said India could learn from China how to deal with scaling up operations for 1.3 billion people, and how to adopt modern systems and co-ordinate between the government, states and municipalities.

From Vietnam, the FSSAI could gain a better understanding of the impact of slow urbanisation. With 70% of Indians living in rural areas, it could also find out how best to deal with large, non-urban populations, and how to establish better surveillance plans for nationwide sampling.

The GFSI also said the regulator should follow the United Kingdom for regulatory delivery, and learn risk communication and compliance support from Netherlands and New Zealand.