Vermicelli, Macroni & Spaghetti Grading & Marking Rules
EXTRACT FROM THE GAZETTE OF
Appearing on Page Nos. 1952 1960
Dated
GOVERNMENT OF
INDIA
MINISTRY OF
AGRICULTURE
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
AND COOPERATION
NOTIFICATION
New Delhi, 28TH
August,2003
G.S.R. 317.- Whereas
a draft of
the Vermicelli,
Macaroni and Spaghetti
(Grading and Marking) Rules,
2002 was
published as required
by Section 3 of the
Agricultural Produce
(Grading and Marking) Act, 1937 at pages
3 to 11 of the Gazette of
India, Part II, section 3, sub-section (i) dated the 4th January,
2003 vide G.S.R 6, dated 18th December, 2002
inviting objections
and suggestions from all persons likely to be affected;
And whereas, copies of the said
Gazette were made available
to the public on 11th January, 2003;
And whereas
the objections and suggestions received
from
the public in
respect of the said draft
rules have been
duly
considered by the Central Government;
Now, therefore,
in exercise of the powers conferred
by
section 3 of the Agricultural Produce (Grading and
Marking) Act,
1937, (1 of 1937), the Central Government hereby makes the
following rules, namely:-
RULES
1. Short title and
commencement.-
(1) These rules
may be called
the Vermicelli, Macaroni
and Spaghetti (Grading and Marking)
Rules, 2003.
(2) They shall
come into force on
the date of
their publication in the Official
Gazette.
2. Definitions. -
In these rules,
unless the context otherwise requires.-
(a) "Agricultural Marketing
Adviser" means the
Agricultural
Marketing Adviser to the Government of India;
(b) "Authorised
packer" means a person or a body of persons who has
been granted a certificate of authorisation to grade and mark Vermicelli,
Macaroni and Spaghetti in accordance with the provisions of these rules;
(c) "Certificate of Authorisation" means a certificate issued under
the General Grading and Marking Rules, 1988;
(d) "Vermicelli, Macaroni and
Spaghetti" means the
products
obtained from Suji or Maida with
or without the addition of ingredients
like edible
groundnut flour, edible tapioca flour, soya flour, milk powder (both whole and skimmed), spices, vitamins, minerals, edible casein, edible oilseeds
flour, gluten, vegetable or vegetable products, fruit or fruit products (preserved, dehydrated or pulp) in any shape and form. The product shall
be derived from raw materials and ingredients quality of which meets the mandatory requirements of Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954
(37 of 1954) and Prevention of Food Adulteration Rules, 1955;
(e) "Grading
and Marking Rules" means
the General Grading
and
Marking Rules, 1988 (as amended from
time to time) made under section 3 of
the Agricultural Produce (Grading and Marking) Act, 1937 (1 of 1937);
(f) "Schedule" means a
Schedule appended to these rules.
3. Grade designations.-
The
grade designations to indicate the quality
of Vermicelli, Macaroni and
Spaghetti shall be as set out in column 1 of
Schedule-II.
4. Definition of quality.- The quality indicated by
such grade designation
shall be as set out against each grade designation in columns 2 to 9 of the
Schedule-II.
5. Grade designation mark:- The
grade designation mark
shall consist
of "AGMARK insignia" consisting
of a design incorporating the
certificate
of authorisation
number, the word "AGMARK", name
of the commodity and
grade designation resembling the design
as set out in Schedule-I.
6. Method of packing:- (1) Vermicelli, Macaroni and
Spaghetti shall be
packed in flexible thermoplastic
containers made up of food grade films of
multi-layer or mono-layer
polythene/polypropylene or metallic
or paper
laminated materials or
moisture proof paper bags as
approved by the
Agicultural
Marketing Adviser or any officer authorised
by him in this
behalf as per rule 11 of the Grading and Marking Rules.
(2) The flexible container or
thermoplastic shall be securely heat
sealed with or without nitrogen flushing;
(3) The
packing material shall be of food grade
quality, strong
enough to withstand
the weight of the
contents, transit impact
and handling, till
it reaches the consumers;
(4) The containers shall be clean, sound and
new. These shall not
be composed wholly or partly of any poisonous or deleterious
substances
which
renders the content injurious to health;
(5) The
containers shall safeguard the
hygienic, nutritional,
technological and organoleptic qualities of the
product;
(6) The
containers shall also be free
from insect infestation,
fungus contamination or any obnoxious and undesirable smell;
(7) The
product shall be
packed in the
pack sizes as per
instructions of Agricultural Marketing Adviser issued from time to time.
(8) Suitable
number of consumer packs containing graded material
of the same grade designation
from the same lot/batch may be packed
in
master container such as paper or polythene or polypropylene lined strong cardboard box and be securely closed and sealed. The particulars
of number and sizes of the
packages packed inside the master
container be
mentioned thereon alongwith other required informations.
7. Method of Marking.-(1) The grade designation mark
shall be securely
affixed to or clearly and indelibly printed on each package/container in a
manner
approved by the Agricultural Marketing Adviser or an officer authorised by him in this behalf in accordance with rule 11 of the Grading and Marking
Rules.
(2) In
addition to the grade designation mark,
the following
particulars shall be
clearly and indelibly
marked on each
package/container,
namely:-
(a) Name and address of the authorised packer;
(b) Place of packing/address of
manufacturer;
(c) Date of packing;
(d) Best before within ... month and ... year;
(e) Lot/batch number;
(f) Net mass (when packed);
(g) Maximum retail price
(inclusive of all taxes);
(h) Names of ingredients used in
the product in descending order of composition by
weight;
(i) Name
of the edible oil used, if used;
(j) Cooking instructions;
(k) Any other details required
under the Standards of Weights and Measures (Packaged
Commodities) Rules, 1977 and Prevention of Food Adulteration
Rules, 1955
as amended from time to time;
(l) If spices have been added, the
word `spiced' to be given on the label.
* Date of packing shall be date
of completion of analysis of the samples
(3) Proper
care shall be taken to ensure
that the ink used for
marking shall be
of such quality
which does not
contaminate the commodity
or the product.
(4) An authorised
packer may, after obtaining prior approval of the
Agricultural Marketing Adviser
or an officer authorised by him in
this
behalf, in
accordance with rule 11 of the Grading and Marking Rules, affix his private trade mark or trade brand on the graded packages provided that
the same does not indicate quality or grade of the product other than that indicated by the grade designation mark affixed to the graded packages
or containers in accordance with these rules.
8. Special conditions
for grant of certificate of authorisation.- In
addition to the general conditions
specified in sub-rule (8) of rule 3 of
the Grading and Marking Rules, the following shall be the
additional
conditions for grant of certificate of authorisation
for Grading and
Marking of Vermicelli, Macaroni and Spaghetti, namely:-
(1) The authorised packer shall either set up his own laboratory
manned by the
qualified chemist approved by the
Agricultural Marketing
Adviser
or an officer authorised by him in this behalf in accordance with rule 9 of the Grading and Marking Rules, for testing the quality of Vermicelli,
Macaroni and Speghetti or have access to the state
Grading
Laboratory or private commercial laboratory approved for the purpose;
(2) The authorised
packer shall ensure the compliance
of the
following requirements of hygiene and
sanitation in grading and marking of
the
Vermicelli, Macaroni and Spaghetti, namely :-
(i)
General hygienic conditions:-
(a) The
premises for processing and packing
shall be clean,
pucca floor, adequately lighted and well ventilated;
(b) The
surrounding area or
environment shall be
free from
objectionable odours, smoke, dust or air borne
pathological contaminations;
(c) The
building shall be of a permanent structure
with well
cemented or tiled walls and easily washable floors without any crevices;
(d) The doors and windows shall
be fitted with fly and insect proof
wire mesh and the doors may preferably be fitted with automatic door
closers;
(e) Wherever water is used in
processing, it shall be ensured that
it is pure, potable and free from any pathological micro organisms;
(f) The
premises shall have proper
drainage system for flow of
refuse water and the same must be fully
covered and be cleaned often. No
foul
smell shall emanate from the drains. The drain
outlets shall lead to
distant sewer pipes or system.
(g) The premises shall have an adequate storage
facility free from
rodent contamination and insect infestation.
(ii) Equipments and utensils:-
(a) All equipments and utensils
shall be made of stainless steel or
corrosive resistant material suitable for food contact applications; and
(b) They
should be free from rust,
corrosive substances or any
other metallic and toxic contamination
(3) All
instructions regarding the method of sampling, analysis,
sealing, marking of
packages, maintenance of records and
submission of
returns
etc., which may be issued from time to time by the Agricultural Marketing Adviser or any Officer duly authorised by him, shall be strictly
observed by the authorised packer and approved
Chemist.
9. Suspension or
cancellation of certificate
of authorisation:-
In
addition to the conditions specified in
rule 7 of the Grading and
Marking Rules, the
Certificate of Authorisation shall
be suspended or
cancelled, if a
holder of the same, fails to comply with
the following
conditions:-
(i) The premises and the equipments should be
often disinfected so
as to maintain high order of hygienic
and sanitary conditions which may be
got
inspected periodically
by the local
Health Authorities and a
certificate be obtained;
(ii) The
grinders and other
equipments must be
cleaned
periodically;
(iii) No toxic or non toxic material other than
those permissible
shall be stored in the authorised premises;
(iv) In the case of resin-coated utensils,
recoating will be done
after every three years and the packer shall have to furnish certificate to
this effect;
(v) The personnel engaged in processing and
packing of the product
should be got medically checked up at least once in a year.
(vi) The authorised packer shall provide all necessary facilities
and assistance to the approved chemist for carrying out the
analysis and grading
and marking of Vermicelli, Macaroni and Spaghetti;
(vii) The authorised packer and approved chemist shall
maintain
proper record of raw materials used in processing the
product and their
analysis.
He shall also submit the periodical returns to the Directorate of Marketing and Inspection in the Proforma prescribed in the relevant grading
and marking instructions issued by the Agricultural
Marketing
Adviser as per rule 3 (8) of the Grading and Marking Rules.
SCHEDULE-I
(See rule 5)
Design of Agmark Insignia
Name
of Commodity :
Grade :
SCHEDULE-II
(See rules 3 and 4)
Grade designation and
quality of Vermicelli, Macaroni and Spaghetti
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Grade Quality
designation
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Special requirements
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Limit of tolerance (percent by mass)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Moisture Total Ash
Acid insoluble *Nitrogen Cooking Test, Free Acidity
(on dry ash (on dry (on dry total solids (ml. of 1 N.
basis) basis) basis) in gruel NaOH solution
per 100 gm of
product)
(Max.) (Max.) (Max.) (Max.) (Max.) (Max.)
----------------------------ญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญ-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Special 10 0.7 0.05 1.80 8 3
Standard 12 1.0 0.10 1.70 8 4
ท The total protein may be calculated as (Nx5.7) where N stands for total nitrogen percentage by mass and 5.7 is the conversion factor.
|
Description |
General Requirements |
|
8 |
9 |
|
Vermicelli, Macaroni and Spaghetti means the products obtained from Suji or Maida with or without addition of ingredients like edible groundnut flour, tapioca flour, soya flour, milk powder, spices, vitamins, minerals, edible casein, edible oil seed flour, gluten, vegetable or vegetable products, fruits and fruit products by kneading the dough and extending it to any shape and form. It shall be free from added colour, dirt, dust, insects, larvae and impurities or any other extraneous matter;
The forms and dimensions of Vermicelli, Macaroni and Spaghetti should be as given below:
1) Vermicelli
The material should be in the form of solid rods of diameter between 0.5 and 1.25 mm.
2) Macaroni
The material may be of two types, namely, long goods or cut goods:
a) The long goods should be in the form of tubular rods, smooth or corrugated. These should have the outer diameter ranging between 3 and 5 mm and of wall thickness of about 1mm. b) The cut goods should be obtained by extrusion and may be in the form of elbows, tubes, shells, alphabets, numerals, stars, wheels rings, rice, melon seeds as agreed to between the purchaser and the supplier.
3) Spaghetti
The material should be in the form of solid rods of diameter 1mm.
|
1) Vermicelli, Macaroni and Spaghetti shall be of good characteristic colour, flavour and odour and shall be free from rancidity, mustiness, bitterness or any other undesirable taste or odour. It shall also be free from impurities, larvae, dirt, dust, rodent hair and excreta, insect fragments, live or dead insects, foreign matter, cracks, flaws, mould, insect infestation or other spoilage. The material shall retain its shape and show no signs of disintegration and shall swell appreciable when plunged into vigorously boiling water and kept boiled for 10 minutes. The flavour of the cooking shall be good and without objectionable taste and odour. The material shall be smooth to touch and shall not contain any added colouring matter. 2. Enrichment. Subject to the agreement between the purchaser and the supplier, the material may be fortified with one or more of the following:-
a) Mineral Calcium, Phosphorus and Iron. b) Vitamin A, B-Complex and D
3. The product shall be derived from raw materials and ingredients quality of which meets the mandatory requirements under the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954 and Prevention of Food Adulteration Rules, 1955 as amended from time to time.
4. The product shall have its natural colour.
5. The product shall not contain aflatoxin more than 30 micrograms per kg.
6. The product shall comply with restrictions in regard to Naturally occurring toxic substances (rule 57-B), Insecticides and Pesticides residue (rule 65) and Poisonous metals (rule 57) as per Prevention of Food Adulteration Rules, 1955 and its amendment from time to time.
|
( File
No.:18011/7/97-M.II)
(P.K.AGARWAL)
Joint Secretary(Agricultural Marketing)
TOP