In a significant ruling, the Delhi High Court has struck down key regulations issued by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India relating to animal feed composition and mandatory BIS certification.
The Division Bench comprising Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Tejas Karia held that the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 is strictly limited to regulating food meant for human consumption and does not extend to animal feed. The Court observed that FSSAI had exceeded its statutory mandate by attempting to regulate the cattle feed sector without legislative backing.
The case was filed by Godrej Agrovet Ltd, which challenged amendments mandating compliance with Bureau of Indian Standards norms for commercial feed. The Court noted that BIS standards are voluntary under the BIS Act, 2016, and cannot be made mandatory by FSSAI without appropriate government notification.
The Bench also emphasized that animal feed does not fall within the definition of “food” under the Act and that regulating livestock feed falls under a different legislative domain, including state jurisdiction.
Accordingly, the Court quashed the contentious Note (c) under Regulation 2.5.2, along with FSSAI directives issued between 2019 and 2021, terming them “ultra vires” to the parent Act.
The ruling is expected to have major implications for the animal feed industry, reinforcing regulatory boundaries and easing compliance burdens on manufacturers.
