Reports from FAS and exporters indicate that India's government has delayed the implementation date of its new model health certificate until December 31, 2023. The new certificate was scheduled to be enforced on May 30, 2023, which is the date the 60-day grace period established in the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying (DAHD) March 31 Office Memorandum announcing the new integrated dairy health certificate. This integrated dairy health certificate contains attestations from both the current DAHD certificate and proposed and withdrawn FSSAI model certificate.

The impact of this announcement should mean that the status quo holds for now, and that the 2019 DAHD dairy certificate will be required until such time as the new integrated certificate is enforced.

DAHD requires its certificate for dairy products of Chapters 4, 17, 21 and 35 (see Volume 1 of the Export Guide). In 2020, after announcing that its model certificate would begin to be required for Chapter 17 lactose and Chapter 35 whey proteins, DAHD allowed products under these tariff codes to continue being imported without a certificate if the importer declared that they were for non-food use, such as for the nutraceutical or pharmaceutical industries.

At this stage, the U.S. government (USG) cannot endorse the DAHD model certificate, or the new integrated health certificate given the problematic nature of various attestations on them. USDEC continues to work with the USG to explore paths forward on the longstanding certificate impasse.

The situation related to certification in India remains fluid and may change at any time. Any shipments to India continue to be at the exporter's own risk.

Please contact Sandra Benson at sbenson@usdec.org with questions.