Grated or powdered cheese, of all kinds
Grated or powdered cheese, all kinds
HSN 0406 20 00 (Grated or powdered cheese, of all kinds) 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 dairy product. Animal Quarantine and Certification Services (AQCS) Sanitary Import Permit and veterinary health certificate clearances apply concurrently, and consignments are permitted only through 79 designated food-import ports with effect from 1 March 2023. Imports of milk and milk-based products originating from China remain prohibited pending laboratory capacity upgrades for melamine testing at ports of entry.
- Import Licence from FSSAI
- Sanitary Import Permit from AQCS
- Veterinary Health Certificate from AQCS
Procedural directions for customs clearance are issued by: Directorate General of Foreign Trade, Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs.
- 1Confirm the foreign manufacturing facility is registered with the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India under the mandatory high-risk-food regime for milk and milk products. The FSSAI Import Licence (document code 911001) and Specimen Copy of Label (document code 0110FS) must be uploaded in e-Sanchit before the bill of entry is filed.CBIC Instruction 30/2022-Cus dated 14-11-2022 · FSSAI order dated 10-10-2022
- 2Upload the veterinary health certificate issued by the competent authority of the exporting country (document code 853AQ1) and the laboratory reports or Certificate of Analysis (document code 001AQ1) in e-Sanchit. Quote the e-Sanchit IRN of the AQCS-issued Sanitary Import Permit (document code 911DF1) on the bill of entry to obtain the AQCS NOC; the Health Certificate (document code 6360AQ) must also be uploaded before out-of-charge.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
- 3Route the consignment only through one of the 79 designated food-import ports listed in the CBIC Instruction 05/2023-Cus Annexure, in compliance with General Note 4(D) of Schedule I of the ITC (HS) 2022. Verify that the origin is not China: imports of milk and milk-based products from China are prohibited under DGFT Notification 01/2015-20 dated 23-04-2019 pending melamine-testing capacity upgrades at ports of entry.CBIC Instruction 05/2023-Cus dated 08-02-2023 · DGFT Notification 01/2015-20 dated 23-04-2019 · General Note 4(D) of Schedule I, ITC (HS) 2022
The most common error on this tariff line is treating the FSSAI Import Licence as the sole clearance and failing to separately secure the AQCS veterinary health certificate (853AQ1) and the Certificate of Analysis (001AQ1), which are distinct e-Sanchit uploads tied to separate Annexure A entries under CBIC Circular 24/2022-Cus. A consignment with all four FSSAI documents in order but missing either AQCS upload will be detained at the designated port; the China-origin prohibition is an absolute bar that rectifiable-labelling provisions cannot cure.