India Dairy Regulation

1. Definition

According to Chapter 2.1 (Dairy Products and Analogues) of the Food Safety and Standards (Food Products Standards and Food Additives) Regulations, 2011, Milk Product means a product obtained by processing milk, which may contain food additives and other ingredients that are functionally necessary for the milk product, as permitted under the Regulations. The Regulations specify that Milk Products include:

• cheese;

• chhana, skimmed-milk chhana, paneer;

• condensed milk-sweetened and unsweetened;

• condensed skimmed milk-sweetened and unsweetened;

• cream;

• dahi, skimmed milk dahi;

• ghee, butter oil;

• ice-cream;

• infant milk food;

• khoa;

• malai;

• milk derivatives such as whey proteins, casein, lactose etc.;

• milk ices, milk lollies, kulfi;

• milk powder, skimmed milk powder, partly skimmed milk powder;

• processed cheese;

• table butter and white butter;

• yoghurt;

• Any other product as may be specified under the Regulations.

2. Competent Authority

3. Market Access Approval

3.1 FSSAI License

No person shall commence any food business unless the person possesses a valid license. All importers importing food items including food ingredients and additives for commercial use to India are under the purview of Central Licensing Authority appointed by the FSSAI. Prior to applying for a license from FSSAI, the importer must first register with the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) to secure a valid Importer-Exporter Code (IEC); if the IEC is suspended, revoked or cancelled by DGFT, the FSSAI import license shall be deemed cancelled. For more detailed licensing requirements, please refer to Food Safety and Standards (Licensing and Registration of Food Businesses) Regulation 2011.

3.2 Mandatory Registration of Foreign Food Manufacturers

Foreign food manufacturing facilities producing specified food categories, including milk and milk products, are required to be registered with FSSAI before exporting such products to India. For this registration, the competent authority of the exporting country must provide the relevant facility information to FSSAI in the prescribed format. Upon review and acceptance of the submitted information, FSSAI updates the facility's registration status on its online ReFoM portal and generates a Unique Registration Number (URN), which can be accessed through the portal.

3.3 Integrated Veterinary Health Certificate (VHC)

The integrated VHC, which incorporates the DAHD's sanitary requirements and FSSAI' food safety requirements, are mandatory for the import of milk and milk products into India. The integrated VHC has to be certified by the exporting country along with the consignments to be exported into India.

3.4 Sanitary Import Permits (SIPs)

The import of livestock products, including milk and milk products, is subject to Sanitary Import Permits (SIPs), issued by the DAHD. SIPs must be obtained prior to shipping from the country of origin. The DAHD issues SIPs for livestock products based on the import risk analysis of the livestock products.

3.5 Designated Ports-of-Entry

Certain high-risk food products, including milk and milk products, shall be imported through designated ports-of-entry.

3.6 Bill of Entry & Inspection

The Importer/CHA/Customs broker shall file a Bill of Entry (BOE) at Customs Single Window Interface for Facilitating Trade (SWIFT). The BOE is initially assessed by the Customs Risk Management System (RMS), and consignments requiring food safety clearance are referred to the Food Import Clearance System (FICS) under FSSAI for further processing. 

The FSSAI clearance process includes document verification, visual inspection, sampling, and laboratory testing by an FSSAI-notified NABL accredited laboratory. High-risk food items, including milk powders, condensed milk, milk cereal base weaning foods, infant milk food and infant formulae, are subject to higher sampling rates.

If the sample complies with applicable food safety requirements, a No Objection Certificate (NOC) is issued to allow clearance; otherwise, a Non-Conformance Report (NCR) may be issued, rejecting the clearance of food consignment.

4. Product Compliance

4.1 Product Requirements

Dairy products in India must comply with the product requirements as shown in the table below:

4.2 Label

Dairy products should follow the labeling requirements in the Food Safety and Standards (Labelling and Display) Regulations, 2020. Food businesses should check Legal Metrology Act, 2009 and Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules, 2011 for the labeling item of consumer care details. Importers should also check Food Safety and Standards (Import) Regulations, 2017  for the labeling requirements for imported food products.

In addition to the general labeling items such as name of food, list of ingredients, and nutrition information, food businesses should pay attention to specific requirements for dairy products. For instance, all milk powders, skimmed milk powders and condensed milk (sweetened and flavoured) or similar products, which can be reconstituted into liquid milk, shall carry the following declaration on label: NOT TO BE USED FOR INFANTS BELOW SIX MONTHS. For more details, please refer to ChemLinked FoodCheck on Labeling.

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Covered Countries

China, Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, United States, European Union, Australia, New Zealand, etc.

Our Services

• Food Ingredient Review

• Label Review

• Product Registration

• Regulatory Consultation

• Monitoring, Training and Customized report

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