IMPORT CLEARANCE

Law:

The Food Safety and Standards Rules, 2011 specifically state that the Importers importing food items including food ingredients and additives for commercial use shall fall under the purview of Central Licensing Authority. According the importer will have to apply for a license under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006. The license will be issued by the Food Safety and Standards and Authority of India (FSSAI), which is the apex body for implementing the Food Act and Rules.

Registration Procedure:

The Food Import Clearance System (FICS) regulates the import process of food items into India. Under this system, an importer has to take a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from FSSAI to import any food items into India. The FSSAI provides an opportunity to the importer to apply for online application for clearance of consignments. An importer has to sign up for creating an Id and password and thereafter register as an importer by filling the required details.

The system provides the following functionality:

·         Application submission by CHA/importer for non-objection certificate (NOC)

·         Online payment of fees for testing of samples by CHA/importer

·         Assignment of FSSAI inspector and provide appointment for CHA/importer  

·         Field visit by the appointed FSSAI inspector for physical inspection and collection of samples

·         Selection of laboratory for testing and dispatching of sample by FSSAI authorized officer

·         Reporting of test results by laboratory

·         Issue of NOC/rejection report by FSSAI authorized officer

·         FSSAI helpline numbers (011-65705552, 64672224) between 9.30am to 6pm on all working, also via mail at fics@fssai.gov.in

Standard Operating Procedures (SoP):

On May 26 2015, the FSSAI published the SoP, detailing the step-by-step processes for clearance of food imports. The SoP laid down the Pre - requisites for imports, procedure for Arrival of consignment, Scrutiny of Documents, Inspection and Sampling Process, procedure for Laboratory Analysis, Issue of No Objection Certificate/ Non Conformance Certificate, Food Import Clearance procedure for Specific Purpose, declarations and the like. The SoP provides for Provisional NOCs for the consignments of fresh fruits/ perishable food items and the food which require special storage conditions (e.g. refrigerated warehousing). The Provisional NOC, be issued without waiting for the analysis report from lab on the basis of undertakings from the Importer.

Food Safety and Standards (Food Import) Regulations, 2016

The FSSAI vide a notification dated January 14, 2015, published the Food Safety and Standards (Food Import) Regulations, 2016 enforceable with immediate effect. The regulations provide for the operationalization of Food Imports in India.

A new process called “Pre-Arrival Document Scrutiny” (PADS) refers to the scrutiny of documents submitted by the Food Importer to the Authorized Officer in advance, before the actual arrival of the article of food in order to facilitate faster clearance of food imported at the Customs Port, the Food Importer may be required to furnish documents as notified by the Food Authority from time to time.

As per Rule 6.4.3 the Imported food items having shelf-life less than 7 days, must submit an undertaking as per Schedule-11 to the Authorized Officer (“AO”) so that the AO may draw a sample and issue a Provisional NOC to the Customs, without waiting for the analysis report from lab. Upon the receipt of the analysis report from the lab, the same will be communicated to Customs along with NOC if products conform to the standard.

IN ADDITION:

License:

Under the Legal Metrology Act, 2009 and the Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules, 2011, the importer is required to register itself as a manufacturers/ packer/ importer and has make an application, accompanied by a fee of rupees five hundred, to the Director or the Controller for the registration, under rule 27 of the Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules. The importer will have to abide by the schedules annexed to the Rules, which provide for manner of declaration, volume/ length checking, determination of quantity and the like. The declarations on the packaging include:

·         the name and address of the manufacturer and packer and for any imported package the name and address of the importer shall be mentioned on every package;

·         the month and year in which the commodity is imported;

·         the name and address of the importer;

·         name, address, telephone number, e mail address, if available, of the person who can be or the office which can be, contacted, in case of consumer complaints.

IEC:

Importer Exporter Code (IEC) is a ten digit number granted by Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) under Ministry of Commerce and Industry, to any bonafide person/ company for carrying out import/export activities to/ from India. Without the IEC no person can undertake any import or export. IEC forms the primary document for recognition by Government of India as an Exporter/Importer. On the basis of IEC, companies can obtain various benefits on their exports/imports from DGFT, Customs, Export Promotion Council etc. An application has to be submitted online at DGFT website at http://dgft.gov.in, along with duly filled documents as per and fees.

Labeling Requirements:

The Food Safety and Standards (Packaging and Labeling) Regulations, 2011 provide the labeling requirements for imports of food products. Basic labeling conditions laid down in the Regulations are as follows:-

·         The Labeling Language should be as per FSS Regulation 2011;

·         The name, trade name or description of food contained in the package;

·         The name of the ingredients used in the product in descending order of their composition by weight or volume as the case may be;

·         Declaration of "Vegetarian" or "Non-Vegetarian" by symbol of "Vegetarian" or "Non-Vegetarian";

·         The name and complete address of the manufacturer and manufacturing unit;

·         The name and complete address of the importer in India;

·         The net weight or number or measure of volume of contents;

·         Batch number or Lot number or Code number;

·         The month and year in which the commodity is manufactured or packed;

·         Declaration of "Best Before" date on the package. It can also be expressed in terms of number of months before the best before date;

·         The nutritional information or nutritional facts per 100gm or 100ml of per serving of the product shall be given in the label;

·         Vegetable fats are not permitted in the chocolate under FSS Regulations 2011.