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2015 (2) TMI 1137 - HC - CustomsCocoa beans imported as an item of food on the basis of license for importing food under the FSS Act - Whether imported cocoa beans satisfy any of the specification or standards under the FSS Act or the Rules framed thereunder - Held that:- cocoa powder, which is produced from cocoa beans, is specified under clause 2.11.6 of the Regulations. It is meant as a powder which is the partially defatted product derived from the ‘cocoa bean’, the seed of Theobroma cacao L. Therefore, when the Statute has prescribed standards for cocoa powder and has consciously decided not to fix any standards for ‘cocoa beans’, it can safely be assumed that no standards had been fixed under the FSS Act or Regulations for ‘cocoa beans’. No Objection Certificate - To obtain from FSS authorities for permitting clearance of the cargo - Whether product is sub-standard/unsafe or not - Held that:- when a food item is imported, it is the bounden duty of the Food Safety Officer exercising power under Section 47(5) of the FSS Act to take sample and sent the same for analysis, to ensure that the food item is neither sub-standard nor unsafe. The learned Single Judge was not justified in permitting import of a consignment which, according to the Food Safety Officer, was unsafe or sub-standard. In the event of a like situation where no specific standard is prescribed for a particular imported food item, still the Food Safety Officer has to certify that the food item is not sub-standard or unsafe. Therefore, the jurisdiction of the Food Safety Officer to grant or reject clearance certificate of food items on sufficient materials cannot be disputed or doubted. Hence it was appropriate that the Food Safety Officer should have been directed to conduct analysis based on appropriate standards or even BIS standards to ensure that the product is neither sub-standard nor unsafe for import. - Writ Appeal disposed of
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