The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) regulates import of food articles under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 and the Food Safety and Standards (Import) Regulations, 2017. FSSAI has observed that a large number of Bills of Entry pertaining to non-food grade items, particularly items having dual food/non-food use under the same HSN code, are being routed to FSSAI for clearance.

To address the routing of non-applicable Bills of Entry to FSSAI, importers/customs brokers may declare the qualifier “NFG” in ICEGATE to indicate non-food end use. The use of “NFG” in the SWIFT system will enable correct PGA routing and prevent non-applicable Bills of Entry from being referred to FSSAI. Importers/Customs Brokers are advised to use the qualifier “NFG” while filing Bills of Entry under Single Window, for appropriate PGA routing/non-routing, as applicable. This notice is stated to be in line with the Customs Circular dated April 22, 2026 issued by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs regarding declaration of Non-Food Grade items in Bills of Entry.

The notice is addressed to: All Food Importers/Importer Associations; All Customs Brokers/Custom House Agents; DG Systems, CBIC; Joint Secretary, Customs, CBIC; ADG ICEGATE, SWIFT, CBIC; and ADG, NCTC, CBIC, Mumbai. The notice is issued with the approval of the Competent Authority and signed by Manvesh Kumar, IRS, Director (Trade and International Cooperation).