Other

Partly or wholly stemmed or stripped tobacco, other

MOHFW CLEARANCE

HSN 2401 20 90 (other partly or wholly stemmed or stripped tobacco) is subject to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MOHFW) mandatory health-warning labelling regime under the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Packaging and Labelling) Amendment Rules, 2022, operative from 1 December 2022. The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) administers the applicable ITC (HS) import policy under General Note 13 of the ITC (HS) Schedule, with the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) providing customs-level enforcement oversight.

What this is

HSN code

2401 20 90

Chapter

24 · Tobacco and manufactured tobacco substitutes

Primary regulator

MOHFW · Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Packaging and Labelling) Amendment Rules, 2022

Customs documentation

Health-warning label compliance from MOHFW
General Note 13 declaration from DGFT
Customs compliance confirmation from CBIC

Applicable Partner Government Agencies

MOHFWMOHFW·Ministry of Health and Family Welfare

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

Compliance steps

1
Ensure all packaging and labelling of the consignment conforms to the new health-warning specifications notified by MOHFW under the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Packaging and Labelling) Amendment Rules, 2022, with effect from 1 December 2022. Non-compliant labelling renders the consignment liable to detention and confiscation at the port of entry.
GSR 592(E) dated 21-07-2022 · MOHFW letter D.O.P.16011/02/2017-TC (PART-1) dated 09-12-2022
2
Verify compliance with General Note 13 of Schedule I of the ITC (HS) 2022, which subjects all imports of cigarettes and other tobacco products — including unmanufactured tobacco — to the MOHFW packaging and labelling provisions before out-of-charge is granted by customs.
General Note 13 of ITC (HS) Schedule · CBIC Instruction 02/2023 dated 07-01-2023

A word of counsel

The most common error on this tariff line is assuming that unmanufactured or stemmed tobacco is outside the scope of the COTPA labelling regime because it is not a finished tobacco product. General Note 13 of the ITC (HS) Schedule expressly applies the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Packaging and Labelling) Amendment Rules, 2022 to all tobacco imports, and customs officers under CBIC Instruction 02/2023 are directed to verify label compliance before out-of-charge — a consignment with legacy pre-December 2022 health warnings will be detained pending re-labelling or re-export.

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Frequently asked

Does HSN 2401 20 90 require BIS certification?

No, unmanufactured stemmed or stripped tobacco is not within any BIS Quality Control Order regime. Import is governed by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare under the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Packaging and Labelling) Amendment Rules, 2022, with DGFT policy controls under General Note 13 of the ITC (HS) Schedule.

Which specific health-warning notification applies to imports filed from 1 December 2022 onwards?

GSR 592(E) dated 21 July 2022 notified the new health-warning specifications; MOHFW letter D.O.P.16011/02/2017-TC (PART-1) dated 9 December 2022 and CBIC Instruction 02/2023 dated 7 January 2023 operationalised customs enforcement of those specifications.

What happens if a consignment of stemmed tobacco arrives with pre-2022 health-warning labelling?

The consignment is liable to detention at the port of entry; customs will not grant out-of-charge until labelling is brought into conformity with the 2022 Amendment Rules or the goods are re-exported.

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