The establishment of Food Safety was working under the provisions of erstwhile Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954 and Rules, 1955. With the repeal of the above act and implementation of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 with effect from 5th August, 2011, the food safety machinery of the state is functioning under the Commissionerate of Food Safety, Assam since then.
The Commissioner of Food Safety, Assam is the head of food safety administration for efficient implementation of food safety and standard and other requirements laid down under Food Safety and Standard Act, the rules and regulations made there under.
There are 2 wings under the Commissionerate of Food Safety viz. ENFORCEMENT and LABORATORY Wing. The Enforcement Wing is headed by the Designated Officer in each district followed by Senior Food Safety Officer and Food Safety Officers. The Designated Officer is the incharge of food safety administration in the district. The Enforcement Wing in the districts is responsible for enforcement of the provisions of the Act which include inspection of Food Business Establishments, collection of sample of articles of food for analysis in the laboratory, issue of licences and registrations to Food Business Operators amongst others.
The State Public Health Laboratory, Assam located at Bamunimaidam, Guwahati 21 is the only food testing Laboratory in the state working under the provisions of the Food Safety and Standard Act. The Laboratory is headed by the Food Analyst to the Government of Assam. The Laboratory is engaged in analysis of articles of food collected by Food Safety Officers under the provisions of the Act. Further, the Laboratory is catering to almost entire North-East India, the Food Analyst to the Government of Assam being notified as Food Analyst to the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Sikkim & Mizoram. The Laboratory is one of the oldest in the country being established in the pre-independence period and hence is a heritage laboratory of the country.
The enforcement of the Drugs and Cosmetic Act commence in Assam from the appointed day of 1st April 1947 by appointing an Inspector of Drugs for whole state of Assam. Subsequently one post of Assistant Drug Controller was created at 1950. The Organization continue with this two post till 1965. Later on, Government has created Drug Controller/ Joint Drug Controller/ Deputy Drug Controller / Senior Inspector of Drugs and the entry level post of Inspector of Drugs have become 21[Twenty One] nos. under the Director of Health, Assam. Now government has decided that separate Commissionerate of Food and Drugs Administration is required with adequate staff for implementing the Drugs and Cosmetic Act, 1940 and Rules 1945 and other Acts, Orders eg: Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985, Drugs Price Control Order, 2013 properly.
Accordingly the Government has created the Commissionerate of Food and Drugs Administration, Assam by way of amalgamation of proposed Commissionerate of Food Safety, Ass6am and the existing Drugs Controller, Assam Vide Govt. Notification No. HLA.384/2014/Pt/70 dated 29-04-2016.
| Statute | Function |
|---|---|
| Drugs & Cosmetics Acts 1940, Drugs & Cosmetics Rules 1945 (Fourth Amendment, 2015) | Regulates the imports, manufacturer, distribution and sale of drugs & cosmetics |
| Drugs Price Control Order (Drugs Price Control Amendment Order 2016) | Specifies ceiling price for essential drugs. Issued from time to time by the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) under the section 3 of the Essential Commodities Acts 1955 |
| Drugs And Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisement) Act 1954 | Prohibits advertisements of drugs and remedies that claim to have magical properties and makes doing so a cognizable offence |
| Narcotic Drugs And Psychotropic Substance Act 1985 | Consolidates the law relating to narcotic drugs and aims to regulate the operations related to Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Acts 1985 |
The sphere of operations of the Drugs Control Administration is mainly about enforcement of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940 and the rules there under, with respect to:
The Drug Control Administration engaged in to curb the manufacture, trade, distribution and spread of sub-standard/ spurious/ adulterated/ mis-branded drugs. This is achieved through three [3] action that involves [a] Licensing [b] Inspection [c] Analysis of Sample
| Regulatory Action | Who Exercise The Powers? |
|---|---|
| Sale | State Government appoints the Licensing Authorities. In Assam, at present the Drug Controller issues both wholesale and retail licenses. Joint & Deputy Drug Controller issue only the retail licences. |
| Inspection | Drug Inspector are vested with the powers of entry, search, confiscation, calling for records, and collection of samples under Section 22 of the Drugs & Cosmetics Act 1940 and under Section 42 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act 1985 |
| Analysis | Analysis is to be carried out by a Government Analyst in an authorized testing laboratory. Requirements are laid down in part-V, Rules 44-48 of the Drugs and Cosmetic Rules, 1945 |