COIMBATORE: A day after the ban on 11 liquor brands manufactured by Enrica Enterprises Private Limited (Tiruvallur district) in Tamil Nadu, the Prohibition and Excise department revoked it on Saturday following directions from the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).
The Prohibition and Excise department communicated to the MD of Tasmac authorising depots and retail outlets to resume transfer and sale of those varieties, sources said.
The FSSAI ban order issued on August 11 for the 11 liquor brands sold by Tasmac across the state was officially revoked by the central body on August 14 following an appeal by the manufacturer assuring full compliance.
While the sudden U-turn has come in for criticism politically, Prohibition and Excise Minister K Vignesh said that the state government departments had no role in either imposing or revoking the ban. He added that the department is now planning quality checks not only for these 11 brands but also for all brands procured by Tasmac.
Explaining the issue to TNIE, Minister Vignesh said the ban and its revocation were both issued by FSSAI, a central government body.
“I got information about the ban only on Friday afternoon (August 14) and by Saturday morning (August 15) I came to know that the ban was revoked. We cannot directly check liquor quality through the state food safety department when a liquor manufacturer’s business exceeds `50 crore. FSSAI is the only authority to check quality for such manufacturing units. So we had no role in these developments. This is being politicised without knowing the facts,” he said.
The minister said the Prohibition and Excise department will consult experts on possible ways to conduct quality checks.
“Tamil Nadu has more than 100 varieties across multiple brands. Though we currently lack legal provisions to test liquor, we will explore options, possibly involving FSSAI, to ensure quality checks for all liquor brands,” he said.
FSSAI, Southern Regional Office, on August 11 inspected the liquor brands at Enrica, following which the regulatory body issued an order to halt sales of 11 liquor products, citing the alleged presence of natural-identical and artificial flavouring substances.
The Commissioner of Prohibition and Excise, in a letter dated August 12, conveyed the findings to Tasmac, prompting the corporation’s statewide directive.
Based on it, Tasmac on August 13 directed senior regional managers, district managers, and depot managers to stop transferring the 11 brands from depots to retail outlets, including FL2 and FL3 licence holders. The sale was halted until further orders.
However, the ban was revoked on August 14.