USDEC has learned from the USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) office in India that the Indian government will no longer allow the import of dairy products for nutraceutical use without a health certificate. Although the Indian government has not yet issued an order in writing that reverses the Office Memorandum of 10 August 2020 which indicated that Chapter 35 whey products may be imported without a health certificate with a declaration from the importer that the goods are for non-food use (including nutraceuticals), the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare/Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has conveyed verbally to FAS  that they consider nutraceuticals to be a food product and therefore must be accompanied by the Indian-model health certificate. Indian Customs has removed the non-food option from "ICE Gate." The only option for importers to select is now for food use.

USDEC has asked the U.S. government (USG) to request that the Indian government allow the import of whey proteins exported prior to the policy change. As of today, the USG has not received a positive response to this request. We will be in touch as we hear more.

At this time, there is no indication of a change to the non-food allowance for pharmaceutical lactose. USDEC will update members should we hear otherwise.

If you have any shipments of whey proteins or lactose en route to India now, please reach out to Sandra Benson at sbenson@usdec.org with details of the consignments:

• Importer name, phone, and email address
• Product (WPC, WPI, lactose etc.)
• Size and number of containers
• Port(s) of entry
• Estimated date(s) of arrival
• Weight of proteins
• Value (for reporting purposes; to be aggregated with all USDEC member responses)

USDEC will continue to update members more details are available in this developing issue. Please contact Sandra Benson with questions.