Setindiabiz Team |

Updated : September 11, 2024

How to Import Food Products into India

Overview : The Government of India regulates the import of food products to ensure the availability of wholesome food for human consumption in India. Various government departments and agencies are entrusted with this task. FSSAI is the primary body that lays down the standards, regulate and control the import of food items in India. The blog sheds light on required licenses and registration before import, and procedures that need to be followed at each stage.

To ensure availability of safe and wholesome food for human consumption, the Government of India regulates the import of food products in India through various departments and agencies. One of the prime bodies which lays down the standards, regulate and control the import of food products in India is Food Safety and Standards Authority of India.

FSSAI has developed a Standard Operating Procedures for clearance of imported food products i.e. food import clearance system, simply called food clearance system. If the import of the food products is not as per the FSSAI regulations and prescribed procedures were not followed during the import of food product the consignment will be rejected and will not be allowed to be traded in India.

Thus, a business before importing food products in India must be aware of the FSSAI regulations and procedures related to how to import food products. In this article, we will have a broad view of the procedure to be kept in mind while importing food products in India.

Licences and registration required prior to import

Business form either company or LLP – It is suggestable though not mandatory as these are credible forms of business having limited liability.
VAT Registration with concerned authority for sale of products in India
Importer Exporter Code (IE Code) issued by Director General of Foreign Trade
Product approval in case of import of non-standardised products

Delegation of Authority

The importer may comply with the formalities involved in custom clearance and food import clearance System (FICS ) of FSSAI on their own or may submit an authority in favour of a Custom Handling Agent (CHA) to the relevant authorities if he chooses to handle his import through a CHA.

Stages in clearance of a consignment after arrival

Once the consignment is arrived in India the various stages for clearance of consignment before going to the domestic market is as below:

Application for Custom Clearance with department of Customs
Application for No objection certificate or Provisional NOC to FSSAI’s Food Import clearance system (FICS)
Scrutiny of documents by Authorised officer of FSSAI
Visual inspection of the consignment and sampling thereof by the Authorised officer of FSSAI
Laboratory analysis of samples collected
Issuance of No objection certificate or Provisional NOC by FSSAI’s Import clearance system (FICS)
Custom clearance of the consignment

Now we will discuss the procedures to be followed at each stage in detail.

Application for Custom Clearance with Department of Customs- once the consignment arrives in India the importer or CHA shall file an application for Clearance of consignment with Department of Customs and file the necessary documents for generation of Bill of Entry and will receive an Examination order for the consignment. This examination order is generated by Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) system of Customs, requiring NOC from FSSAI.
Application for No objection certificate or Provisional NOC to Food Import clearance system (FICS) of FSSAI- The importer / CHA after generation of Bill of Entry and examination order shall make an application for No objection certificate or Provisional NOC to Food Import clearance system (FICS) of FSSAI. The preliminary documents required to make such an application is as under:
- IE Code issued by DGFT;
- FSSAI Licence issued under FSS Act 2006;
- Bill of Entry;
- Examination order is generated by Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) system of Customs;
- Product approval, if required.
Apart from these preliminary documents additional documents specific to the product are required to be submitted with Food Import clearance system (FICS) of FSSAI, e.g.
- Import Permit issued by Ministry of Agriculture, Governments of India in case of primary agriculture produce or horticultural produce;
- Sanitary Import Permit Issued by Department of Animal Husbandry, in case of livestock products;
- Registration of import contracts for poppy seeds with Central Bureau of Narcotics;
- Certificate of origin issued at the place of manufacturing or processing etc. by Authorized Person or Agency of the food consignment. Certificate of Origin shall contain information on Country of origin etc. if the consignor is from a different country;
- Phyto-Sanitary Certificate issued by the Plant Quarantine Department of Exporting Country in case of horticulture produce or primary agriculture with fumigation endorsement;
- Certificate of Analysis with composition certificate. In case of Wine & Whiskey Test certificate is required;
- End-use declaration
- Pumping Guarantee Certificate in case of edible oil imported in bulk
- Stuffing list, Packing List
- List of transit country
- Temperature Chart or Report or Graph, if the food consignment trans-shipped under the Cold Chain Technologies (CCT) from the port of origin to the point of import
- Commercial invoice as mentioned in the Bill of Entry
- Bill of lading as mentioned in the Bill of Entry for sea consignment
- Air WayBill as mentioned in the Bill of Entry for air consignment
- Declaration by an undertaking from the manufacturer that the representative sealed sample is from the same batch of the consignment in case of aseptic package;
- The Importer should furnish an Undertaking in the absence of representative sample for the aseptic package to the effect that they do not have any objection to break open the sealed aseptic container from the consignment and collect the sample for laboratory analysis and the Food Authority is not responsible for any kind of damage to the consignment due to such withdrawal of sample as if is necessary for the clearance of the consignment.
  The importer shall submit a declaration that no claim shall be made for retesting in case the primary test fails where the sample quantity is insufficient to draw the duplicate sample.
- In addition to the documents listed above, the importer/ CHA shall submit the documents filed with the Department of Customs at the time of export as well as copy of the rejection certificate, if any, along with reasons for it issued by the officials of importing country before its re-export where it is a case of re-import.
- Radio Activity Certificate, if irradiation is used;
- High Sea Sale Agreement;
- submit any other report (s) or documents (s) or undertaking (s) or Affidavit (s) as directed and as specified by the Authorized Officer of by the Food Authority from time to time
Scrutiny of documents by Authorised officer of FSSAI- Authorised person The authorised officer of FSSAI shall verify each and every document submitted by the importer and may ask for any clarification if required in the matter. If after due verification and scrutiny the documents are found to be in order the authorised officer raises a demand for the requisite fee as per number of samples applied for clearance.
Visual inspection of the consignment and sampling thereof by the Authorised officer of FSSAI On the deposit of demand of fee raised by the importer/ CHA the authorised officer shall inform the date and time of visual inspection of the consignment which shall be duly acknowledged by importer/CHA.
After visual examination of the consignment and being ensured about the remaining balance shelf life the authorised officer shall draw two samples in the presence of importer or his representative and shall seal and label it. Out of these two sealed and labelled samples one shall be sent to the notified laboratories and the second sample must be preserved for retesting, if required.
Laboratory analysis of samples collected The samples shall be analysed by the laboratory as per the standards and parameters prescribed under Food Safety and Standards Act 2006and regulations made thereunder and shall send its report to the authorised officer of FSSAI with a conclusion whether the product tested conforms to the standards and parameters prescribed under Food Safety and Standards Act 2006 and its regulations.
Issuance of No objection certificate or Provisional NOC by Food Import clearance system (FICS) of FSSAI On the basis of the laboratory report for its conformance or non-conformance standards and parameters prescribed under Food Safety and Standards Act 2006 and regulations, the No Objection Certificate (NOC) or Non Conformance Certificate is generated.
Custom clearance of the consignmentOnce the No Objection Certificate (NOC) issued by the FSSAI’s Import clearance system (FICS), is duly submitted by the authorised person to the Customs authorities with the Department of Customs the consignment is cleared for trade or use in India.

It is important here to mention that the consignment of perishable foods items or Fresh fruits along with the food which require special storage condition (Refrigerated warehouse) shall be issued provisional NOC without waiting for laboratory analysis report on the basis of undertaking of the importer.

Conclusion

Import of food products in India is subject to strict regulation to ensure access to wholesome foods by the countrymen. FSSAI is one of the chief government bodies to regulate import of food items in India. It is granted authority to allow consignment of foods products to enter the nation’s boundaries if they comply with FSSAI procedures and regulations and can also reject consignment if they don’t adhere to prescribed regulations as described in the above blog.