The Spices Board (“Board”) had under a circular dated 21st September 2020 exempted export consignments of Ready to Eat (RTE) products in dried form, such as namkeens, snacks, pappads etc., from the requirement of mandatory testing prior to export.
Now, in order to further promote the export of RTE, the Board has in a Circular dated 31st December 2020 once again extended the exemption from mandatory testing to RTE products in all forms.
Please note in case of export to the European Union & UK, RTE products which have a spice content of more than 20%, will require a Health Certificate, for which testing is a pre-requisite.
The Circular also informs that export of Chilli and Chilli products to all destinations except South East Asian countries, Bangladesh, Nepal, Malaysia and China will be subject to mandatory pre-shipment testing by the Board. In the case of South East Asian countries, Bangladesh, Nepal, Malaysia and China, container stuffing for export is permitted based on the ‘Sample Drawn Certificate’ provided by the Board. In the case of export of Cumin seeds to all destinations except USA and Japan, Container stuffing for export is permitted based on undertaking endorsed by the Board
Further with a view to promote Ease of Doing Business (“EODB”), the Board has listed the ITC HS Code of the spices and spice products for mandatory quality evaluation for exports. The updated list is placed at Annex-I of the Circular and is effective from 4th January, 2021.
Source: Spices Board