Document requirements for every FSSAI category — Basic Registration, State Licence and Central Licence — with the additional documents manufacturers, importers and e-commerce food businesses must provide.
FSSAI applications are usually delayed by the same few items — a layout plan nobody drew, a water test report that was never commissioned, or a premises document that does not match the applicant's name. Collecting these before you start turns a multi-week process into a short one.
Common to Every Category
- Identity proof of the proprietor, partners or directors — Aadhaar, PAN, voter card or passport.
- Passport-size photograph of the applicant.
- Proof of premises — rent agreement, sale deed, utility bill, or a no-objection certificate from the owner.
- Constitution documents — certificate of incorporation, partnership deed, or proprietorship proof.
- List of food products to be manufactured, handled or sold, described by category.
- Form B, the declaration and undertaking, signed by the applicant.
- Email address and mobile number for the FoSCoS account.
Additional for a State Licence
- Blueprint or layout plan of the premises, with dimensions and area allocation. Required for manufacturing and processing units.
- List of equipment and machinery, with capacity and number of units.
- List of directors or partners with full addresses and contact details.
- Name and address of the nominated person responsible for food safety.
- Water analysis report from a recognised laboratory, where water is used as an ingredient or in processing.
- Food safety management system plan, setting out hazard controls.
- No-objection certificate from the local municipality or panchayat, where required in that State.
- Proof of turnover, or a self-declaration.
Additional for a Central Licence
- Everything required for a State Licence.
- Import export code, for importers and exporters.
- Source of raw material declaration, particularly for milk, meat and other sensitive categories.
- Certificate of analysis of the product from an accredited laboratory.
- No-objection or product approval from the relevant authority, for specified categories.
- Ministry of Commerce certificate, for 100% export-oriented units.
- Recall plan, where applicable.
- For e-commerce operators, details of the platform and the food businesses listed on it.
A water test report is the item that most often stalls an application. It has to come from a recognised laboratory and takes time to obtain. If water touches your product at any stage — as an ingredient, for washing, or for cleaning equipment — commission the test at the very start of the process, not when the application asks for it.
Category-Specific Additions
- Restaurants and food service: kitchen layout, a no-objection certificate from the fire department where required locally, and medical fitness certificates for all food handlers.
- Dairy: milk procurement plan, chilling and storage capacity, and source details.
- Meat and poultry: slaughterhouse approval, veterinary certification and disposal arrangements.
- Packaged drinking water: BIS certification, which is separately mandatory, plus full water analysis.
- Transporters: list of vehicles with registration numbers, and temperature control details for cold chain.
- Storage and warehouses: capacity in metric tonnes and the type of storage.
After the Licence Issues
- Display the licence number on every package and at the premises.
- Appoint and train a food safety supervisor under FOSTAC, where your size requires one.
- Obtain medical fitness certificates for all food handlers, renewed annually.
- Start the record set — cleaning, pest control, temperature, water testing, product testing, complaints.
- Review labels against the labelling regulations: name, ingredients in descending order, allergens, nutritional information, net quantity, date of manufacture and expiry, batch number, the licence number, and the vegetarian or non-vegetarian mark.
- Diarise the annual return by 31 May and the annual fee and compliance report on FoSCoS.