Labelling and customs regulations in India

All foreign products meant for direct consumption in India require specific labelling.
India’s labelling standards may deviate from international norms, and improperly labelled goods may carry a risk of rejection or detainment of goods by customs officials.

Non-food related labels in India

All imported pre-packaged commodities intended for direct retail sale must include:

• name and address of importer
• generic or common name of commodity packed
• net quantity calculated using the metric system
• month and year of packing in which the commodity was manufactured, packed, or imported
• the maximum retail price (MRP) at which the commodity in packaged form must be sold to the end consumer. (The MRP should include all taxes, freight transport charges, commission payable to dealers, and all charges towards advertising, delivery, packing, etc.)

Labels should be in either English or Hindi (though English is preferred).

Packaged Food Labels in India:

• Name, trade name, or description
• Name of ingredients used in the product in descending order of their composition by weight or volume
• Name and complete address of manufacturer/packer, importer, country of origin of the imported food (if the food article is manufactured outside India, but packed in India)
• Net weight, number, or volume of contents
• Distinctive batch, lot, or code number
• Month and year of manufacture and packaging
• Month and year by which the product is best consumed
• Maximum retail price

Imported food must also display the Food Safety and Standard Authority of India (FSSAI) logo along with the FSSAI licence number.

Additionally, packaged food should indicate whether it is non-vegetarian or vegetarian. In India, non-vegetarian means food which contains no animal or part of an animal. Eggs are non-vegetarian while milk and milk by-products are considered vegetarian.

Non-vegetarian food must have a symbol of a brown dot inside a brown square displayed prominently on the package in a way that contrasts with the background of the packaging yet is displayed near the product’s name or brand. The symbol for vegetarian food is the same but green.
Wherever applicable, the product label should contain the following details as well:

• the purpose of irradiation and license number in case of irradiated food
• extraneous addition of colouring material

All declarations printed on the item’s packaging must be bold and clearly visible, written only in either English or Hindi. Additionally, the font size should not be less than 1 mm while the width should not be less than one-third of the font size.