Carcasses and half-carcasses

Frozen swine carcasses and half-carcasses, meat of swine

FSSAI CLEARANCE · AQCS CLEARANCE

HSN 0203 21 00 (Carcasses and half-carcasses of swine, frozen) is subject to Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) Import Licence and mandatory foreign-manufacturer registration under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, as a high-risk meat product. Animal Quarantine and Certification Services (AQCS) Sanitary Import Permit clearance applies concurrently, and consignments are permitted only through 79 designated food-import ports with effect from 1 March 2023.

What this is

HSN code

0203 21 00

Chapter

02 · Meat and edible meat offal

Primary regulator

FSSAI · Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 (high-risk meat regime)

Customs documentation

Import Licence from FSSAI
Sanitary Import Permit from AQCS
Veterinary Health Certificate from AQCS

Applicable Partner Government Agencies

FSSAIFSSAI·Food Safety and Standards Authority of India

AQCSAQCS·Animal Quarantine and Certification Services

Procedural directions for customs clearance are issued by: Directorate General of Foreign Trade, Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs.

Compliance steps

1
Confirm the foreign manufacturing facility is registered with the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India under the high-risk-meat regime before shipment. The FSSAI Import Licence (document code 911001) and a Specimen Copy of Label (document code 0110FS) must be uploaded in e-Sanchit at the bill of entry stage prior to out-of-charge.
CBIC Instruction 30/2022-Cus dated 14-11-2022 · FSSAI order dated 10-10-2022
2
Upload the Veterinary Health Certificate issued by the exporting country (document code 853AQ1) and the Laboratory Report or Certificate of Analysis (document code 001AQ1) in e-Sanchit. Quote the IRN of the AQCS Sanitary Import Permit (document code 911DF1) and the Health Certificate (document code 6360AQ) on the bill of entry to obtain the AQCS NOC.
CBIC Circular 24/2022-Cus dated 28-11-2022 · CBIC Instruction 09/2023-Cus dated 07-03-2023 · FSSAI order dated 18-11-2022 under F.No.Import/TFM/Apex/2022-FSSAI
3
Route the consignment exclusively through one of the 79 designated food-import ports listed in the CBIC Instruction 05/2023-Cus Annexure, and ensure compliance with the rectifiable-labelling regime for imported food consignments before out-of-charge. General Note 4(D) of Schedule I of the ITC (HS) 2022 governs permissible food-import entry points.
CBIC Instruction 05/2023-Cus dated 08-02-2023 · CBIC Instruction 10/2022-Cus dated 28-06-2022 · FSSAI Letter 1828/Misc Matters/FSSAI/Imports-2021 dated 17-06-2022 · General Note 4(D), ITC (HS) 2022

A word of counsel

The most frequent error on this tariff line is treating the FSSAI Import Licence as the sole clearance and overlooking the three independent AQCS document uploads — the Veterinary Health Certificate (853AQ1), the Certificate of Analysis (001AQ1), and the Sanitary Import Permit IRN (911DF1) — each of which must be separately uploaded in e-Sanchit before the proper officer can release the consignment. A consignment arriving at a designated port with a current FSSAI licence but any one of these AQCS documents missing will be detained pending upload, accruing demurrage and ground rent that cannot be recovered through the rectifiable-labelling carve-out.

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Frequently asked

Does HSN 0203 21 00 require BIS certification?

No, frozen swine carcasses fall outside the BIS Quality Control Order regime entirely. Import is governed by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, with a concurrent Animal Quarantine and Certification Services Sanitary Import Permit and the 79-designated-port restriction operative from 1 March 2023.

Which document codes must be uploaded in e-Sanchit for this tariff line?

Five documents are mandatory: FSSAI Import Licence (911001), Specimen Copy of Label (0110FS), Health Certificate (6360AQ), Veterinary Health Certificate (853AQ1), and Laboratory Report or Certificate of Analysis (001AQ1); the Sanitary Import Permit IRN (911DF1) must additionally be quoted on the bill of entry to obtain the AQCS NOC.

Is foreign-manufacturer registration with FSSAI mandatory even if the importing entity holds a current FSSAI licence?

Yes. Per CBIC Instruction 30/2022-Cus and the FSSAI order dated 10 October 2022, the overseas manufacturing facility must itself be registered with FSSAI; the importer's own FSSAI licence does not substitute for facility-level registration, and imports from unregistered facilities are not permitted.

Last verified against gazette notifications: 2026-05-16. Source: FSSAI / AQCS / DGFT / CBIC / Indian Customs CUSDATA.