The approvals that hold containers are almost never the ones importers expected. Here is how to work out which regulations apply to your product before you place the order.
Customs duty is predictable. Product compliance is what actually holds cargo, because these approvals cannot be obtained while a container waits — several take weeks, and one takes months.
Work out which apply to your product at the purchase order stage.
BIS — Bureau of Indian Standards
Applies to: Electronics and IT equipment, electrical appliances, steel and cement, toys, footwear, certain chemicals, and a schedule of goods that expands regularly.
What it requires: Products under a mandatory standard need BIS certification before import. Foreign manufacturers register under the Foreign Manufacturers Certification Scheme, or under the Compulsory Registration Scheme for electronics and IT goods.
Timeline: Six to twelve weeks for a new registration, sometimes longer where factory inspection is required.
Where it goes wrong: The registration belongs to the manufacturer, not the importer. If your supplier is not registered, you cannot import — and getting them registered is a project measured in months. Confirm registration status before you place the order, and confirm the specific model is covered, not just the factory.
FSSAI — Food Safety and Standards Authority of India
Applies to: All food products, ingredients, additives, beverages, nutraceuticals and food-contact packaging.
What it requires:
- An FSSAI import licence held by the importer
- Product approval where the item is not covered by an existing standard
- Labelling compliant with Indian rules — declarations, veg/non-veg mark, nutritional panel, importer details, shelf-life
- Clearance through FSSAI at the port of import, with sampling and testing
Timeline: Import licence in two to four weeks. Product approval for non-standardised items can take considerably longer.
Where it goes wrong: Labelling. Indian labelling rules are specific and are enforced at the port. A consignment with non-compliant labels is held until it is relabelled under customs supervision — or re-exported. Get artwork approved before production, not before shipment.
Also note the shelf-life rule: consignments must have at least 60% of shelf life remaining at the time of import clearance.
EPR — Extended Producer Responsibility
Applies to: Electrical and electronic equipment, plastic packaging, batteries, tyres and waste oil.
What it requires: Registration with the CPCB as a producer, with obligations to collect and recycle a proportion of what you place on the market. Annual returns and target compliance follow.
Timeline: Four to eight weeks for registration.
Where it goes wrong: Importers of goods packaged in plastic are frequently caught out — the obligation attaches to the packaging, not only to the product. If your goods arrive in plastic packaging, check whether plastic EPR applies to you.
WPC — Wireless Planning and Coordination
Applies to: Any product with wireless functionality — Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, RF modules, drones, radios.
What it requires: Equipment Type Approval, and an import licence for restricted frequency bands.
Timeline: Two to six weeks.
Where it goes wrong: People forget the product has Bluetooth. Devices that are not obviously "wireless" — a speaker, a fitness band, an industrial sensor — still need ETA.
Others worth checking
- Legal Metrology — packaged commodities need declarations of quantity, MRP, importer details
- Plant Quarantine — plants, seeds, wooden packaging (ISPM-15 treatment)
- Animal Quarantine — animal products and derivatives
- CDSCO — drugs, cosmetics and medical devices
- PESO — explosives, compressed gases, petroleum products
How to work out what applies to you
- Confirm the HS code first. Most compliance schedules are keyed to classification.
- Check the schedules against that code — BIS CRS list, FSSAI product categories, CPCB EPR categories.
- Look at the packaging separately from the product.
- Check for wireless functionality, however incidental.
- Verify your supplier's existing registrations where the obligation sits with the manufacturer.
The timeline that matters
If your product needs BIS certification and the manufacturer is not registered, you are looking at three months or more before you can import at all. That is not a delay you can absorb after the container has sailed.
This check belongs at the purchase order stage. Send us your product description and HS code and we will tell you which approvals apply before you commit to the order.
