GS Paper IV — Q11
A reputed food product company based in India developed a food product for the international market and started exporting the…
A reputed food product company based in India developed a food product for the international market and started exporting the same after getting necessary approvals. The company announced this achievement and also indicated that soon the product will be made available for the domestic consumers with almost same quality and health benefits. Accordingly, the company got its product approved by the domestic competent authority and launched the product in Indian market. The company could increase its market share over a period of time and earned substantial profit both domestically and internationally. However, the random sample test conducted by inspecting team found the product being sold domestically in variance with the approval obtained from the competent authority. On further investigation, it was also discovered that the food company was not only selling products which were not meeting the health standard of the country but also selling the rejected export products in the domestic market. This episode adversely affected the reputation and profitability of the food company.
What action do you visualize should be taken by the competent authority against the food company for violating the laid down domestic food standard and selling rejected export products in domestic market?
What course of action is available with the food company to resolve the crisis and bring back its lost reputation?
Examine the ethical dilemma involved in the case.
(Answer in 250 words)
हिंदी में प्रश्न पढ़ें
भारत में स्थित एक प्रतिष्ठित खाद्य उत्पाद कंपनी ने अंतर्राष्ट्रीय बाजार के लिए एक खाद्य उत्पाद विकसित किया और आवश्यक अनुमोदन प्राप्त करने के बाद उसका निर्यात शुरू कर दिया। कंपनी ने इस उपलब्धि की घोषणा की और यह संकेत भी दिया कि जल्द ही यह उत्पाद घरेलू उपभोक्ताओं के लिए लगभग समान गुणवत्ता और स्वास्थ्य लाभ के साथ उपलब्ध कराया जाएगा। तदनुसार, कंपनी ने अपने उत्पाद को घरेलू सक्षम प्राधिकारी द्वारा अनुमोदित कराया और उत्पाद को भारतीय बाजार में लॉन्च किया। कंपनी ने समय के साथ बाजार में अपनी हिस्सेदारी को बढ़ाया और घरेलू तथा अंतर्राष्ट्रीय स्तर पर पर्याप्त लाभ अर्जित किया। हालांकि, निरीक्षण दल द्वारा किए गए यादृच्छिक नमूनों (रैंडम सैम्पल) के परीक्षण में पाया गया कि सक्षम प्राधिकारी से प्राप्त अनुमोदन से भिन्न उत्पाद को घरेलू स्तर पर बेचा जा रहा है। आगे की जाँच में यह भी पता चला कि खाद्य कंपनी न केवल ऐसे उत्पादों को बेच रही थी जो देश के स्वास्थ्य मानकों को पूरा नहीं कर रहे थे बल्कि अस्वीकृत निर्यात उत्पाद को भी घरेलू बाजार में बेच रही थी। इस प्रकरण ने खाद्य कंपनी की प्रतिष्ठा और लाभदायकता पर प्रतिकूल प्रभाव डाला।
घरेलू बाजार के लिए निर्धारित खाद्य मानकों का उल्लंघन करने और अस्वीकृत निर्यात उत्पादों को घरेलू बाजार में बेचने के लिए खाद्य कंपनी के खिलाफ सक्षम प्राधिकारी द्वारा आप क्या कार्रवाई की कल्पना करते हैं?
संकट को हल करने और अपनी खोई हुई प्रतिष्ठा को वापस लाने के लिए खाद्य कंपनी के पास क्या क्रियाविधि उपलब्ध है?
मामले में निहित नैतिक दुविधा की जाँच कीजिए।
(उत्तर 250 शब्दों में दीजिए)
Model answer
Drafted with AI by UPSC Answer Check against this question's marking rubric, to the 250-word length. UPSC does not publish answers for Mains — this is one way to score well, not an official key. How we build rubrics and answers.
(a) Action by the Competent Authority Under the Food Safety and Standards (FSS) Act, 2006, the FSSAI and the state Commissioner of Food Safety should:
- seize the non-compliant stock and order an immediate recall (Section 28);
- serve an improvement notice and suspend or cancel the licence (Section 32);
- prosecute and impose penalties for selling sub-standard, misbranded and unsafe food (Sections 50 to 59), with criminal prosecution for fraud where the rejected export stock was knowingly sold;
- audit the supply chain, make test results public, and consider barring the company from further approvals until compliance is shown.
(b) Course of Action for the Company It should publicly and unconditionally admit the lapse and recall the product voluntarily; compensate affected consumers; fix accountability at the level of senior management instead of blaming junior staff; and overhaul its quality-assurance system with an independent third-party audit, batch-level traceability and a separate export-reject disposal protocol. It should accept short-term losses and publish its compliance data regularly to rebuild trust.
(c) Ethical Dilemma Involved
- Profit versus public health: citizens were treated merely as a means to clear stock, which is a deontological violation of the duty not to harm.
- Double standards: giving foreigners the better product and Indians the rejects breaches distributive justice and the equal dignity of consumers.
- Short-term shareholder value versus long-term institutional integrity: quarterly margins were put above corporate social responsibility and consumer trust.
- Information asymmetry: consumers could not verify quality, so the company's honesty was the only safeguard, and the regulator's post-market surveillance was the missing check.
How this answer will be evaluated
Framework: GS4 Case Study: Crux, Stakeholders, Dilemmas, Options, Course of Action (Immediate/Short-term/Long-term)
What earns full marks: Precise legal/regulatory actions, actionable corporate recovery, and deep ethical analysis of the double standard.
Evaluation rubric
Each sub-part is marked on its own, against the marks and word limit printed on the paper.
- (a) Regulatory actions by competent authority for standard violation and dumping rejected exports.
suggest— the problem in one line → implementable measures → who acts → conclusion
Must cover
- Immediate seizure of non-compliant stock
- Citing the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 for penalties
- Revocation of domestic license
- Criminal prosecution for fraud
Loses marks
- Vague 'take action' without legal basis
- Ignoring the 'rejected export' aspect
- Preaching instead of regulatory procedure
Earns more
- Mention of FSSAI 2006
- Reference to consumer protection
- Mandatory public disclosure
- Ban on future exports
Extra mark
- Specific section of FSSAI Act
- Reference to FSSAI guidelines
- (b) Corporate strategy to resolve crisis and restore reputation.
suggest— the problem in one line → implementable measures → who acts → conclusion
Must cover
- Immediate recall of products
- Unconditional apology and transparency
- Compensation to affected consumers
- Internal audit and compliance overhaul
Loses marks
- PR spin without operational change
- Blaming employees instead of system
- Ignoring consumer harm
Earns more
- Third-party independent audit
- CSR initiatives for health
- Leadership accountability (CEO resignation)
- Long-term quality assurance
Extra mark
- Reference to specific crisis management model
- Example of a similar corporate recovery
- (c) Analysis of the ethical conflict between profit and public safety.
examine— intro → how/why with reasoning → evidence → conclusion
Must cover
- Profit motive vs. public health
- Deception of domestic consumers
- Double standard (export vs. domestic)
- Breach of social contract
Loses marks
- Listing values without application
- One-sided moralizing
- Ignoring the 'rejected export' ethical breach
Earns more
- Utilitarian vs. Deontological conflict
- Stakeholder analysis (consumers vs. shareholders)
- Moral hazard in regulation
- Corporate social responsibility
Extra mark
- Reference to a specific ethical framework
- Mention of 'silent stakeholders'
What "Analyse" is asking you to do
Break the subject into its working parts and show how they act on each other. The marks are in the interconnections — which factor drives which, and what the resulting structure explains — not in the inventory of factors.
Structure that answers it
Define the whole → separate it into its parts → show which part drives which → what that interaction produces → what the structure implies
Where marks are lost
A flat list of causes with no account of which drives which. An answer of neatly separated headings, each self-contained, scores as description.
Practice this exact question
Write your answer and it is marked point by point against the model answer above — what you covered, what you missed, what you got wrong.
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