India rejects food shipments from China, Japan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Turkey

New Delhi: India has rejected consignments of apples, nuts, alcoholic beverages and sushi from Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Japan, China and Turkey this year because they fell short of the standards set by it.
The apex food regulator—Food Safety Standard Authority of India (FSSAI) – has made public the names of the countries on their recently launched Food Import Rejection Alert (FIRA), a portal which enables rapid exchange of information among authorities worldwide on food safety & health risks derived from rejected food. FIRA enables relevant food authorities/stakeholders to take immediate action for prevention & control of risk before it causes harm and ensures enhanced traceability & transparency.
Regulation 11(7) of the Food Safety and Standards (Import) Regulation, 2017 empowers the Food Authority to issue food alert notification.
India imports food items from more than 100 countries.
According to the FIRA portal , FSSAI rejected cinnamon flower bud (dry) from Sri Lanka on 24 May at Bangalore. The product needs prior approval as it is not allowed as per FSS, Act, 2006. Sri Lankan Arecanut consignments were rejected on 22 April at Tuticorin port due to the presence of visible moulds and various other defects.
As per the Food Safety and Standards (Import) Regulations, 2017, any food article, when referred to FSSAI for import clearance, is subject to a three-tier system of verification i.e. scrutiny of documents, visual inspection, sampling and testing. 
On 25 June, FSSAI rejected tea bags, in the category of health supplements & nutraceuticals, from Japan at Bangalore saying ‘Rooibos’ is not listed as a permitted plant/botanical ingredient.
In India, in order to regulate the imported food items for their safety and quality, FSSAI has notified Authorized Officers for various Points of Entry, through which Import of food item is allowed by Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT).
Routinely, the major reason for rejection of product is quality or safety criteria, other criteria are labelling declaration, accompanying document deficiency and any other product or country specific requirement. Broadly, safety parameters include pesticides, heavy metals, colors, flavours etc. and quality parameters include moisture, fat content, total ash etc.
Fresh red apples from Turkey were rejected on 31 July at Kolkata Port because of short shelf life.
The food regulator rejected Budweiser non-alcoholic beer (GREEN APPLE) from China on 31 May at Mumbai-JNPT Nhava Sheva port saying its pH value is less than the prescribed limit for alcohol-free beer. Similarly, sushi nori, a seaweed from China was also rejected in May at Delhi port due to the presence of heavy metal and Arsenic.
Arecanut (Betelnut) whole was rejected from Bangladesh.
Queries sent to the India’s health ministry spokesperson, FSSAI and high commission of Sri Lanka, Japan, China, Bangladesh, Turkey remained unanswered till press time.