Fisheries Administration and Lagislation

Unit 9 - Laws relating to fish products and fish marketing

9.2. Some important acts regulating fish products

• Prevention of food adulteration act, 1954: this act is basically enacted to prevent consumer being supplied with products having unwanted/unauthorized materials. It specifies the list of ingredients that can be used in products .use of any other additive can be considered adulteration even if the additive is safe.
• Essential commodity Act, 1955: It is a central act. It is being enforced by department of civil supplies, Ministry of consumer affairs. This act has several orders:

• Vegetable oil & edible oil order, 1967
• Food product order, 1955
• Meat food product order, 1973-fish product under this order
• Milk and milk product order, 1992
• Standard and weight measure Act, 1976
• Agricultural produce (marketing & grading Act, 1937)
• BIS Act: An Act to provide for the establishment of a Bureau for the harmonious development of the activities of standardization, marking and quality certification of goods and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto. It gives AGMARK certification for products meeting specified standards.
• Export quality control and inspection Act 1963: This act has the provision of setting up of body for inspection and regulation of products meant for export.

The APMC Act which was amended in 2006 as per the Central Government model (2003) implements two main changes. They are allowing the retailer or processor to buy directly from the farmer thereby passing the commission agent and other intermediaries. Secondly, allowing contract farming. Under the contract farming provision a buyer can directly contract (fishing/farming) produces. The buyer can also lease farmland/fishing vessels and create his own supply chain system. Overall the fishing firm/farmer would know the price and quantity in advance. Alternately, the farmer/fisher can continue to rely on commission agents for selling his catches. Thus the amended APMC Act has been the key factor in making the supply chain system sustained and organized. It facilitates the entry of organized retailers such as Reliance/ METRO and other big players. In 2003 amendment in agriculture produce market (regulation) Act, farmers are allowed to sell their commodity directly to consumer/retailer (prior to this they can only sell their produce to APMC). This is basically to promote contract farming. In contract farming the big retailers (metro company, Bangalore) finance the seed, feed & other inputs & buy the products from the farmers at predetermined price directly. Because of this 2003 amendment the centralized APMC market may get weathered slowly. Fish is a notified commodity only in Bangalore market but similar is not the case in Mangalore market in Karnataka. So farmers are paying commission @ 6% or even more.