Free sale certificate guide for cosmetics imports into India

A free sale certificate (FSC) confirms where the named products are freely sold or marketed. For cosmetics imports into India, it supports the registration application described in CDSCO's cosmetics guidance.

The FSC is not Indian import registration. Applicants use Form COS-1 to apply for an Import Registration Certificate in Form COS-2. Keep these documents separate when preparing the submission. CDSCO's guidance explains both forms and the supporting documents.

Who can issue a free sale certificate?

Section 4.9 of the guidance says an original FSC from a national regulatory authority or another competent association or organisation can be considered. Its wording links the issuer to the country of the principal manufacturer or the actual manufacturer in the country of origin. An exporter's address alone doesn't establish that connection. See section 4.9, pages 6 to 7.

Check the issuer before arranging authentication. The same section describes different treatment for certificates from national regulators and those from other competent bodies:

• For another competent association or organisation, the guidance says the certificate needs authentication by the Indian Embassy in the country of origin.
• Without Embassy authentication, the certificate may be accepted if authenticated by the chamber of commerce and apostilled.
• Authenticated by a notary public and apostilled, it may be accepted without Embassy authentication.

But an apostille does not guarantee acceptance. Section 4.9 does not state the same additional authentication route for a national-regulator-issued FSC. That wording is not a blanket exemption from document checks. These distinctions come from CDSCO's guidance, dated 19 January 2021, which CDSCO links on its Cosmetics page.

Free sale certificate format and document checks

Use the guidance as a content check, not as a blank government template. Before submitting an FSC, check the following against sections 4.1 and 4.9:

• The issuer meets the guidance's authority and country criteria.
• The certificate covers the products in the application.
• The issuing authority has signed and stamped the FSC's product list.
• The certificate states the country where those cosmetics are freely sold or marketed.
• The document has the authentication applicable to its issuer.
• A correlation chart ties each product's COS-1 serial number to the FSC and the authorisation.

The covering letter should identify the checklist section containing the correlation charts. That pointer belongs in the application, not as extra text on the certificate. Check the covering-letter instructions on page 3 alongside the FSC section.

Keep the country statements distinct. The guidance describes the issuer's connection to the manufacturer and separately asks where the products are freely sold. Do not replace that statement with an assumption that manufacture and free sale always occur in the same country. Section 4.9 supplies the wording to check.

Why the FSC does not replace COS-2

CDSCO says cosmetics must be registered before import, along with their pack sizes, variants, and manufacturing premises, and the Central Licensing Authority regulates those imports, so a foreign free sale certificate does not by itself authorise import into India. See CDSCO's explanation of cosmetics registration.

This registration coverage does not mean every FSC must list every pack size or variant. Check the FSC's content against section 4.9, and the registration application against the wider guidance.

Free sale certificate for export from India

Indian cosmetics exporters face a different question: which Indian authority should issue their certificate? The same label for an import supporting document and an export certificate is a nuisance.

Don't assume the generic DGFT free sale certificate route applies.

DGFT's ANF 2H excludes items covered by the Drugs & Cosmetics Act 1940 in its declaration. Note 2 says applicants for products under that Act may apply to the Drug Controller General (India) for a Free Sale & Commerce Certificate. Check the applicable drugs-control authority's route and the destination country's certificate requirements before applying. RegAffairs AI's answer on cosmetics free sale certificates explains the import-document requirements. DGFT also distinguishes free-sale confirmation from proof of safety, efficacy or registration on its Certificate Management page.