Food safety regulation bars customs clearance where final testing does not affirm compliance with prohibited-substance standards.

Customs clearance of an imported food consignment was refused because the final test report did not affirm compliance with prescribed food standards and could not certify the absence of coumarin. The Court relied on the applicable food and sample analysis regulations, which prohibited coumarin in food, and held that uncertain or inconclusive testing could not justify release of goods where a prohibited substance was suspected. In these circumstances, clearance could not be directed and the challenge to the customs refusal failed. The writ petition was rejected on the basis that affirmative compliance with the regulatory standard had not been established by the final report.

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Issues: Whether clearance of the imported consignment could be ordered when the sample report did not establish compliance with the prescribed food standards and the applicable regulations prohibited the presence of coumarin in food.

Analysis: The samples had already undergone repeated testing, and an earlier judicial direction had made the subsequent test final. The last report did not certify that the consignment conformed to the prescribed standards, as the presence of coumarin could not be adjudged by the laboratory. The applicable laboratory and sample analysis regulations were relied upon to show that coumarin was prohibited in any article of food. In that situation, the Court declined to accept the request for release of the goods on the basis of uncertainty in testing or on the alleged benign nature of coumarin.

Conclusion: Clearance of the consignment could not be directed, and the challenge to the customs refusal failed.

Final Conclusion: The writ petition was rejected because a food article found or suspected to contain a prohibited substance could not be released in the face of the applicable regulatory prohibition.

Ratio Decidendi: Where the governing food regulations prohibit a substance in food, customs clearance cannot be ordered unless compliance with the prescribed standard is affirmatively established by the final test report.

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