The merchant community in Madurai has termed the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 as detrimental to the interests of farmers and self-help groups in its present form and urged the Centre to postpone the enforcement of the Act.
Hoisting the tricolour to mark the Republic Day, S P Jeyapragasam, president of the Madurai-based Tamil Nadu Foodgrain Merchants’ Association said the Act that has come into force from September last year would curtail farmers’ opportunity to sell products at remunerative prices. “According to the Act, farmers who grow the food products and traders are liable for action for deficiency in the products. The deficiency in quality of agro products due to changes in weather should also be taken into account,” he said.
The Expert’s Thought: The act is meant to provide better food safety standards for the industry rather than curtailing the livelihood of an individual farmer.
