Import of hazardous substances - CBEC's Customs Manual 2025 - Customs

9. Import of hazardous substances: 9.1 As per Chapter 1A of General Notes regarding Import Policy (ITC (HS) Classification of Export and Import Items, Schedule I, imports of Hazardous Waste shall also be subject to the provisions of Chapter III of the Hazardous and Other Wastes (Management and Transboundary Movement) Rules, 2016. Accordingly, hazardous waste (including substances containing or contaminated with such hazardous wastes) as specified in Schedule VI of Hazardous and Other Wastes (Management and Transboundary Movement) Rules, 2016 shall be Prohibited for imports, notwithstanding anything contained in this ITC (HS). 9.2 Wastes arising out of the operation from ships beyond five kilometers of the relevant baseline as covered under the provisions of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1958 (44 of 1958) and the rules made thereunder and as amended from time to time; The utilization of waste oil/sludge derived from the normal course of a ship s operation as a resource or after pre-processing either for co-processing or for any other use, including within the premises of the generator (if it is not part of process), shall be carried out only after obtaining authorisation from the State Pollution Control Board in respect of waste on the basis of standard operating procedures or guidelines provided by the Central Pollution Control. Such waste oil/sludge will conform to the definition in Schedule IV of the Hazardous and Other Wastes (Management and Transboundary Movement) Rules, 2016 9.3 Import of Hazardous Chemicals permitted is permitted in accordance with the provisions of the Manufacture, Storage and Import of Hazardous Chemicals Rules 1989 (as amended) made under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986). Besides other conditions mentioned in the Rules, the importer shall, before 30 days but not later than the date of import, furnish the details specified in Rule 18 to the Authority specified in Schedule 5 of the said Rules. 9.4 Import of products, equipment containing Ozone Depleting Substances (ODS) will be subject to Rule 10 of the Ozone Depleting Substances Rules, 2000. In terms of these Rules no person shall import or cause to import any product specified in column (2) of Schedule VII, which was made with or contains Ozone Depleting Substances specified in column (3), unless a license is obtained from the Directorate General of Foreign Trade. 9.5 Import of Genetically Modified Food, Feed, Genetically Modified Organism (GMOs) and Living Modified Organisms (LMOs) will be subject to the following conditions : i. The import of GMOs / LMOs for the purpose of (i) R D; (ii) food; (iii) feed; (iv) processing in bulk; and (v) for environment release will be governed by the provisions of the Environment Protection Act, 1986 and Rules 1989. ii. The import of any food, feed, raw or processed or any ingredient of food, food additives or any food product that contains GM material and is being used either for industrial production, environmental release, or field application will be allowed only with the approval of the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC). iii. Institutes / Companies who wish to import Genetically Modified material for R D purposes will submit their proposal to the Review Committee for Genetic Modification (RCGM) under the Department of Bio-Technology. In case the Companies / Institutes use this Genetically Modified material for commercial purposes approval of GEAC is also required. iv. At the time of import all consignments containing products which have been subjected to Genetic Modification will carry a declaration stating that the product is Genetically Modified. In case a consignment does not carry such a declaration and is later found to contain Genetically Modified material, the importer is liable to penal action under the Foreign Trade (Development and Regulation) Act, 1992. 9.6 As per Chapter 1A of General Notes regarding Import Policy (ITC (HS) Classification of Export and Import Items, Schedule I, import of textile and textile articles is permitted subject to the condition that they shall not contain any of the hazardous dyes whose handling, production, carriage or use is prohibited by the Government of India under the provisions of clause (d) of subsection (2) of Section 6 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 (29 of 1986) read with the relevant rule(s) framed thereunder. For this purpose, the import consignments shall be accompanied by a pre-shipment certificate from a textile testing laboratory accredited to the National Accreditation Agency of the Country of Origin. In cases where such certificates are not available, the consignment will be cleared after getting a sample of the imported consignment tested certified from any of the agencies: (i) Textiles Committee of Ministry of Textiles and its various testing facilities, (ii) Central Silk Technological Research Institute (CSRTI) (located at Bengaluru, Karnataka) and Eco Testing Laboratory Central Silk Technological Research Institute (located at Bhagalpur, Bihar, and Varanasi Uttar Pradesh); of the Central Silk Board. The sampling will be based on the following parameters: a) At least 25% of samples are drawn for testing instead of 100%. b) While drawing the samples, it will be ensured by Customs that majority samples are drawn from consignments originating from countries where there is no legal prohibition on the use of harmful hazardous Dyes. c) The test report will be valid for a period of six months in cases where the textile/textile articles of the same specification/quality are imported and the importer, supplier and the country of origin are the same. However, the above procedure at 2. I and II, regarding testing of Textiles and Textile Articles for presence of Azo Dyes, will not be applicable for imports originating from the countries as listed in Appendix-2X of Appendices and Aayat Niryat Forms of FTP 2015-20, where the use of Azo Dyes in Textiles and Textile Articles is banned.