Jellyfish

Prepared or preserved jellyfish, aquatic invertebrate preparations

FSSAI CLEARANCE · AQCS CLEARANCE

HSN 1605 63 00 (Jellyfish) 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 aquatic food 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

1605 63 00

Chapter

16 · Preparations of meat, fish or crustaceans, molluscs or other aquatic invertebrates

Primary regulator

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

Customs documentation

Import Licence from FSSAI
Sanitary Import Permit from AQCS
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 mandatory foreign-manufacturer registration scheme for fish and aquatic-product categories. 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
2
Obtain the AQCS Sanitary Import Permit (document code 911DF1) and Health Certificate (document code 6360AQ) before consignment dispatch. Quote the e-Sanchit IRN of the Sanitary Import Permit on the bill of entry to obtain the AQCS NOC for the CTIs listed in Annexure A (Sl. No. 3) of CBIC Circular 24/2022-Cus.
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 per General Note 4(D) of Schedule I of the ITC (HS) 2022. Verify labelling compliance against the rectifiable-labelling framework; label defects that are not rectifiable bar out-of-charge.
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

A word of counsel

The most common error on this tariff line is treating jellyfish as a lower-risk prepared product outside the high-risk-food foreign-manufacturer registration net. Prepared or preserved jellyfish under Chapter 16 falls squarely within the fish-and-aquatic-product category subject to FSSAI mandatory facility registration; an import from an unregistered facility is refused out-of-charge regardless of the currency of the FSSAI Import Licence. The AQCS Sanitary Import Permit IRN must also be independently quoted at the bill-of-entry stage — a missing IRN results in port detention and accruing demurrage even where all FSSAI documents are in order.

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Frequently asked

Does HSN 1605 63 00 require BIS certification?

No, prepared or preserved jellyfish falls outside the BIS Quality Control Order regime; no BIS QCO covers this product family. 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 requirement and the 79-designated-port restriction operative from 1 March 2023.

Which documents must be uploaded in e-Sanchit before out-of-charge for this tariff line?

Four documents are mandatory: FSSAI Import Licence (code 911001), Specimen Copy of Label (code 0110FS), AQCS Sanitary Import Permit (code 911DF1), and Health Certificate (code 6360AQ), per the PGA-facilitated-bill verification requirement in the CCR.

What happens if the consignment arrives at a non-designated port?

Import of high-risk food including aquatic-product preparations through any port outside the 79 designated food-import ports is not permitted under General Note 4(D) of Schedule I of the ITC (HS) 2022; the consignment faces detention and potential re-export at the importer's cost.

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