Imported food warehousing and inspection duties: transfer to a public warehouse is permissible, and inspection cannot be refused on that ground alone.

Imported food articles may be moved, while awaiting clearance, from a custodian warehouse to a public warehouse under Section 49 of the Customs Act, because the customs scheme permits warehousing and movement subject to customs control and does not prohibit such transfer. The importer may therefore seek permission in principle, though the goods remain under customs regulation. For food import inspection, FSSAI must conduct inspection, sampling and related clearance steps with due expedition under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 and the Import Regulations, 2017. Storage in a public warehouse is not, by itself, a valid ground to refuse inspection, although no rigid judicial timeframe for completion was prescribed.

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Issues: (i) Whether an importer of food articles may, pending clearance by the competent authorities, seek permission under Section 49 of the Customs Act, 1962 to move goods from a custodian warehouse to a public warehouse; (ii) Whether FSSAI can be required to complete inspection and sampling within a fixed timeframe and whether it may refuse inspection merely because the goods are stored in a public warehouse.

Issue (i): Whether an importer of food articles may, pending clearance by the competent authorities, seek permission under Section 49 of the Customs Act, 1962 to move goods from a custodian warehouse to a public warehouse.

Analysis: The statutory scheme under the Customs Act, 1962 permits imported goods to be kept in custody, warehoused, or moved subject to customs control. Section 49 enables storage in a public warehouse where the proper authority is satisfied that the goods cannot be cleared within a reasonable time. Nothing in the customs regime prohibits such movement, and the customs authorities acknowledged that an application under Section 49 would be considered in accordance with law. The movement remains subject to customs regulation because the goods are still awaiting home consumption clearance.

Conclusion: The importer is entitled in principle to apply for permission to move the imported goods from a custodian warehouse to a public warehouse, and such movement is not prohibited in law.

Issue (ii): Whether FSSAI can be required to complete inspection and sampling within a fixed timeframe and whether it may refuse inspection merely because the goods are stored in a public warehouse.

Analysis: Imported food articles are governed by Section 47(5) of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 and Regulations 8 and 9 of the Food Safety and Standards (Import) Regulations, 2017, which require inspection, sampling, analysis, and issuance of the no objection process in an orderly and prompt manner. The framework obliges FSSAI to act with due expedition, but it does not justify the Court prescribing a rigid outer time limit for completion of the process. The Court also accepted that storage in a public warehouse does not by itself prevent inspection or sampling, and FSSAI cannot decline inspection on that ground alone.

Conclusion: No fixed judicial timeframe for completion of inspection and clearance was prescribed, but FSSAI must act with due expedition and cannot refuse inspection merely because the goods are stored in a public warehouse.

Final Conclusion: The writ petition was disposed of with recognition of the importer's ability to seek movement of the goods to a public warehouse and with clarification that FSSAI must inspect imported food articles irrespective of such storage, while no rigid deadline for completion of the process was imposed.

Ratio Decidendi: Where the statutory scheme permits warehousing of imported goods and requires food-import inspection by the competent authority, the importer may seek transfer to a public warehouse under customs control, and the food authority must carry out inspection with due expedition without treating such transfer as a bar to inspection.

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