Seed

Cotton seeds for sowing, oil seeds of cotton plant

FSSAI CLEARANCE

HSN 1207 21 00 (Cotton seeds for sowing) is subject to Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) Import Licence requirements under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, with import classified as Restricted under ITC (HS) policy condition 4 of Chapter 12 administered by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT). Consignments must enter only through designated food-import ports under General Note 4(D) of Schedule I of the ITC (HS) 2022, with Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) verification of mandatory e-Sanchit documents before out-of-charge.

What this is

HSN code

1207 21 00

Chapter

12 · Oil seeds and oleaginous fruits; miscellaneous grains, seeds and fruit; industrial or medicinal plants

Primary regulator

FSSAI · Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 (Restricted import, ITC (HS) policy condition 4 of Chapter 12)

Customs documentation

Import Licence from FSSAI
Specimen copy of label from FSSAI
Food-import port declaration to CBIC

Applicable Partner Government Agencies

FSSAIFSSAI·Food Safety and Standards Authority of India

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

Compliance steps

1
Obtain a valid FSSAI Import Licence before filing the bill of entry and upload it in e-Sanchit under document code 911001. Simultaneously upload the Specimen Copy of Label under document code 0110FS; the proper officer will verify both documents before granting out-of-charge under the ITC (HS) Restricted-import policy condition 4 of Chapter 12.
ITC (HS) policy condition 4 of Chapter 12 · CBIC Instruction 09/2023-Cus dated 07-03-2023 · FSSAI order dated 18-11-2022 under F.No.Import/TFM/Apex/2022-FSSAI
2
Route the consignment exclusively through a designated food-import entry point listed under General Note 4(D) of Schedule I of the ITC (HS) 2022. Non-designated port arrival renders the consignment liable to detention and re-export without FSSAI clearance.
General Note 4(D) of Schedule I, ITC (HS) 2022 · CBIC Instruction 10/2022-Cus dated 28-06-2022
3
Address any labelling deficiencies under the rectifiable-labelling regime of FSS (Import) Regulations, 2017 and FSS (Labelling and Display) Regulations, 2020 before visual inspection by the authorised officer. Permitted rectifications — including per-serve RDA contribution and expiry-date stickers — must be applied at customs bonded warehouses by affixing a single non-detachable sticker on the principal display panel without altering the original label.
FSSAI Letter 1828/Misc Matters/FSSAI/Imports-2021 dated 17-06-2022 · CBIC Instruction 10/2022-Cus dated 28-06-2022 · FSSAI clarification order dated 18-11-2022

A word of counsel

The most frequent error on this tariff line is treating FSSAI document upload as a post-arrival formality. Both the FSSAI Import Licence (911001) and Specimen Copy of Label (0110FS) must be present in e-Sanchit at the bill-of-entry stage; a PGA-facilitated bill that bypasses the NOC routing triggers manual verification by the proper officer, and a missing document at that point results in consignment detention and demurrage accumulation at the designated port.

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Frequently asked

Does HSN 1207 21 00 require BIS certification?

No, no BIS Quality Control Order covers this product family. Import is governed by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, subject to ITC (HS) Restricted-import policy condition 4 of Chapter 12 administered by DGFT.

Which document codes must be uploaded in e-Sanchit at the bill of entry for this tariff line?

Document code 911001 (FSSAI Import Licence) and document code 0110FS (Specimen Copy of Label) are mandatory; the proper officer verifies both before granting out-of-charge per CBIC Instruction 09/2023-Cus dated 07-03-2023.

Can labelling deficiencies be rectified at the port for this HSN?

Yes, but only within the permitted categories under the FSS (Labelling and Display) Regulations, 2020 and FSSAI orders dated 22-05-2018, 14-01-2019 and 18-11-2022 — rectification must occur at a customs bonded warehouse using a single non-detachable sticker before the authorised officer's inspection, and cannot alter original label information.

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