Post removal of provision of mandatory certification from Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), packaged water players will need to strictly adhere to a comprehensive framework of testing on quality and safety parameters from January 1. The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has notified a “scheme of testing” for packaged drinking and mineral water sector to ensure safety of these products in the Indian market.
Earlier, packaged drinking water companies were required to obtain mandatory certification from BIS along with a licence from the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). However, last year FSSAI said that the mandatory condition of BIS license is being scrapped. It also decided to reclassify packaged and mineral water products under “high-risk” category mandating third-party audits among other compliance requirements.
In its latest order, FSSAI said it had gazette notified the omission of the provision for mandatory BIS certification on October 12, 2024. This was done through introduction of amendments for the Food Safety and Standards (Prohibition and Restriction of Sales) Regulation, 2011.
“The mandatory Bureau of Indian Standards Certification Mark is no longer required for Packaged Drinking Water (PDW) & Mineral Water (MW). In continuation of the above, the scheme of testing of “Packaged Drinking Water” & “Mineral Water” is made in order to ensure safety & compliance in......the Indian market. Therefore, all FBOs are directed to strictly comply with the same effective from 01.01.2026,” FSSAI stated in its latest order.
With this move, packaged water companies will now only require FSSAI licence but will need to adhere to a stringent testing and quality protocol instead of BIS certification process.
The comprehensive framework outlines microbiological parameters for which packaged drinking and mineral water players will be required to get their product samples tested on a monthly basis. At the same time, it has outlined other parameters for which samples will need to undergo testing once in three months and once in three months.
The move to scrap the BIS certification process for packaged drinking water was done by the government to streamline compliance requirements and to ensure food businesses will not be required to get certification from two different regulators.