On 3 August 2022, FSSAI published a notice regarding the requirement of a Health Certificate for imported food consignments. According to this notice, it has been decided that all imported food consignments of certain food product categories must accompany a Health Certificate issued by the Competent Authority of the exporting country, effective from 1 November 2022.
FSSAI, under the provisions of FSS (Import) Regulation, 2017, has decided that every imported food consignment of the food categories Milk and Milk products, Fish and Fish products, and Pork and Pork products must have a Health certificate provided by the Competent Authority of the exporting country following the format prescribed in Annexure- I. This order will be enforced from 1 November 2022.
This notification comprises Annexure- I describing the format of the Health Certificate for Import of Milk and Milk products/ Fish and Fish products/Pork and Pork products into India. In addition, it mentions the country of dispatch, description of food and other parameters. Further, it also mentions the general conditions and sanitary/ food safety-related instructions.
Such Health Certificate will be valid for ninety days from the day of issue.