In follow up to USDEC's Member Alert on January 4, 2023, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has issued a fourth version of the list of products for which its food safety certificate is required. The list published on the FSSAI website today is also dated December 28, 2022, just like the first three versions of this list, and adds dairy proteins of HS 2106 and 3502.20 to the list of products for which the Indian model certificate is required. The list of applicable products now includes:

• Chapter 4: Basic dairy products (milk powder, whey powder, butter, cheese, etc.)
• 1702.11: Lactose
• 2105: Ice cream and other edible ice
• 2106.10: Protein concentrates and textured protein substances
• 3502.20: Milk albumin, including concentrates of two or more whey proteins

This order is effective immediately as the requirement for the new FSSAI certificate was effective January 1, 2023.

At this time, we are under the impression that lactose for pharmaceutical purposes will not require this food safety model certificate; however, we would caution members that FSSAI continues to make changes to this new regulation and to its interpretation of its scope.

As a reminder, the U.S. government (USG) has not agreed to endorse this FSSAI model certificate. Please see Volume 2 of the Export Guide for additional details.

USDEC is aware that members have significant interest in exporting to India and will continue to work closely with the USG to find solutions to the market access challenges in this market. Please contact Sandra Benson at sbenson@usdec.org with any questions.