India restricts import of mercury with Prior Informed Consent 
On September 9, 2021, India’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry published a notification (No. 24 /2015-2020), establishing import conditions in the trade policy for mercury (ITC HS Code 28054000). Before revised, there were no conditions on the import of mercury, but this notification designates it as an import restricted item requiring Prior Informed Consent (PIC) for export between the parties. In the case of India, a PIC must be obtained from the department in charge of the Minamata Convention under the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC).
| Exim Code | Item Description | Present Policy | Existing Policy Condition | Revised Policy | Revised Policy Condition |
| 28054000 | Mercury | Free | – | Restricted | Subject to Policy Condition No.3 |
- Add Policy Condition No.3 to Chapter 28 of ITC(HS), Schedule I (Import Policy):
“A Prior Informed Consent (PIC) procedure as per the provisions of the Minamata Convention on mercury is to be obtained from the National Focal Point of Minamata Convention in the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) in case of import/export of mercury”.
India signed the Minamata Convention on September 30, 2014, ratified it on June 18, 2018, and it entered into force in the country on September 16, 2018. India has requested an exemption from the phase-out date until 2025, which is listed in Annex A (mercury-added products) Part I of the Minamata Convention.
PIC procedures in MoEFCC website:
https://moef.gov.in/en/division/environment-divisions/hazardous-substances-management-hsm/import-export-of-mercury/
The notification can be downloaded from the following URL.
https://egazette.nic.in/WriteReadData/2021/229517.pdf
