The Export Inspection Council (EIC) was set up by the Government of India in order to ensure sound development of export trade of India through Quality Control and Inspection and for matter connected thereof. 

Standard development activities of EIC:

As an advisory body to the Central Government, EIC is empowered to

• Notify commodities which will be subject to quality control and/or inspection prior to export,
• Establish standards of quality for such notified commodities, and
• Specify the type of quality control and /or inspection to be applied to.

As such EIC recognizes the national standards of the importing countries /international standards provided that such specifications are not below the minimum standard specification prescribed in the order/notification issued by Govt. of India for the product.

Certification activities of EIC:

EIC either directly or through the Export Inspection Agencies (EIAs), its field organizations render services  in the areas of:

• Certification of quality of export commodities through installation of quality assurance systems (In-process Quality Control and Self-Certification) in the exporting units as well as consignment-wise inspection
• Certification of quality of food items for export through installation of Food Safety Management Systems (FSMS) in the food processing units as per international standards.
• Issue of different types of Certificates such as Health, Authenticity etc. to exporters under various product schemes for export.
• Issue of Certificates of Origin to exporters under various preferential tariff schemes for export products.
• Recognition of Inspection Agencies as per ISO 17020 and Laboratories as per ISO 17025 and utilizing them for export inspection and testing.

EIC website provides the lists of approved inspection agencies and  laboratories along with their scope/ the indicative product for which approval is granted.

Under the provisions of WTO Agreements, especially the SPS Agreement, several of India's trading partners have imposed import control systems based on international standards, particularly in food sector. These Agreements also provide for recognition of the export certification system of member trading partners provided it meets the requirements of their import control.

Being the official export certification body of India, EIC’s certification is recognized by different authorities like European Commission, USFDA, Sri Lanka, Korea,  Japan Health Authorities, China and Singapore for different products.  Click to know the agreement details with various authorities in this regard. EIC has also provided the list of Approved facilities for different products in India in its website.

Key contact: eic@eicindia.gov.in

Website: www.eicindia.gov.in